High-tech park delivers Hollywood casting call

By Liang Yiwen  |   2008-10-20  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

CONSTRUCTION began on Saturday morning in the untapped central zone of the Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in the Pudong New Area - a project that focuses on attracting the movie industry and other cultural enterprises.

It comes after development of the park's 19-square-kilometer northern area, which is centered around the integrated-circuit industry, software and biomedicines, is almost complete.

Additional demand by international companies has created the need to tap the park's central areas.

The 4.67-square-kilometer zone is located south of Huaxia Road M., west of Luoshan Road, north of Chuanyanghe Road and east of Shenjiang Road.

Its development will focus on businesses related to culture, fashion and science.

"We expect cooperation from the international cultural industry, such as Sotheby's and Christie's (auction houses)," said Liu Xiaolong, executive deputy general manager of Zhangjiang Group Co Ltd.

The central island on a river inside the park will be focus of cultural and creative industries such as animation and digital publishing, and house a performing arts center.

The left side of the island will be called the Technical Zone, to be jointly developed by the Chinese Academy of Science and local government.

The right bank will comprise the Education Zone, featuring the campus of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Shanghai Academy of Motion Picture Arts along with the park's training center.

"The performing arts center will have a top T-stage, second only to Milan and Paris," Liu said. "The Shanghai Academy of Motion Picture Arts will have six large studios and has signed contracts with Hollywood companies to shoot films about Asia here," Liu said.

In addition to the new development in the central area, 72 projects with investment totaling 24.9 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) were launched in the high-tech park this year.

The park, established in July 1992, has a total area of 25 square kilometers.