A service center for the Sino-Singapore Tianjin eco-city has begun construction as part of preliminary work for the official launch of the decade-long project. The service center, covering 46,000 square meters, will be completed in mid-June and put into use in July. It will serve as the office building for the eco-city's administrative committee and joint venture investment company, both of which undertake the development of the project.

The site of the 30-square-km Tianjin eco-city is a salt area in the city's New Binhai Area. The eco-city is another cooperation project between China and Singapore following construction of the Suzhou Industrial Park in eastern Jiangsu Province.

The eco-city will serve as a model for sustainable development for other Chinese cities. It can attract about 1.5 million people to work and live in it.

According to the plan, the eco-city will have industries, schools, hospitals, supermarkets, housing and other facilities. The construction will put the stress on environmental protection, resources and energy conservation and social harmony.

The framework agreement on the construction of the eco-city was signed last November by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong during the former's visit to Singapore.

The ground-breaking ceremony is scheduled for July. A three-square-km start-up area will be built first.

Other preparatory work including the removal of polluting chemical plants near the eco-city is also underway.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2008)