Tianjin Municipality, in north China, plans to build a large compound for exhibitions and conferences at a cost of 4.5 billion yuan.

According to Ren Yulai, a local official responsible for infrastructure development, the center will be multi-functional and is expected to become a new symbol of the port city.

The project, which covers 220 hectares of land, will include a number of exhibition and conference facilities as well as hotels, office mansions, apartments and malls.

The whole compound will be a group of buildings surrounded by water.

( Xinhua News Agency December 07, 2001)