With investment of 400 million yuan (US$48.19 million) for the initial phase, the first phase of the project will cover an area of 160,000 square metres.

The total planned space for the project is 32.13 hectares, which would make the centre one of the largest facilities of its kind in China.

The centre has strong support from the Guangdong Economic and Trade Commission as well as the Guangzhou Commerce Commission. It is expected to boost the development of China's toy industry and that of Guangdong Province in particular when it begins operating late next year, noted Tan Yinghua, director of the Guangzhou Commerce Commission.

Li Zhouming, vice-chairman of the Guangdong Toy Association, said: "China is the world's largest exporter of toys and Guangdong Province accounts for the lion's share.

"Nonetheless, we still have a long way to go in terms of research and development and design capabilities for the sustained development of the industry."

Most of the toy enterprises in the province and in China as a whole have relied on processing and compensation trade (whereby enterprises pay for imported equipment with products they make using the machines). They have paid far from enough attention to research, design or efforts to crack markets in China and abroad, analysts said.

Li deemed the construction of the toy centre "timely", referring to the increasingly cut-throat competition since China joined the World Trade Organization.

(China Daily December 2, 2002)