With the grand opening of the Shanghai Fashion Hub, Changning District is working towards building itself into a national fashion center.
With an investment of about 15 million yuan (US$1.81 million), the fashion hub is a new attraction on the district's bustling Tianshan Road.
Jointly constructed by the Changning district government and the China Fashion Association (CFA), it is composed of five three-story office buildings, with a construction area of more than 6,300 square meters.
A series of programs, including training courses, consultation, exhibitions and brand advertising, will be launched by CFA in the near future.
Wang Qing, president of CFA, said that by setting up its Shanghai representative office at the center, CFA hopes to build it into China's "Fashion Silicon Valley."
He also predicted that it will become a popular haunt for fashion designers from around the country.
So far, some fashion studios, including Shanghai Zhuangyuan Culture Fashion Institute and Maogeping Image Design Art School, have already launched their business.
"As Japan-based Bunka Fashion College's first branch on China's mainland, we have full confidence in the school's future development," said Lin Ping, headmaster of Shanghai Zhuangyuan Culture Fashion Institute.
"Thanks to the CFA, we found this unique location, which offers our students a rich cultural environment for fashion studies."
According to Lu Jiye, vice director of Changning District, the fashion hub is also one of the district's four garment parks.
The other three are the 6,000-square-meter Donghua Textile and Garment Scientific Park to be opened before October, the 100,000-square-meter Hongqiao Top-grade Garment Park around Zhongshan Road W. and the Eastern Crocodile Mansion.
A garment retailing street will also be constructed on Maotai Road, which is not far from the fashion hub.
"The garment industry has always been a pillar industry of Changning, in line with the municipal government's requirement that each district develop its own powerful industry," Lu explained.
Currently, more than 500 garment design, production and sales enterprises are clubbed together in Changning. Among them are famous brands such as Esprit, Cartelo, Conch and Captaino.
Last year, these enterprises achieved total sales of about 5 billion yuan, up nearly 30 percent from a year earlier.
"To maintain such an annual growth rate, the government will continue to give full support to develop the industry," Lu said.
He added that the district is endowed with many advantages in developing the garment industry.
"We have strong academic backup as Donghua University and Shanghai University of Engineering Science, both famous for their textile related courses, are located in Changning," he said. "The district is also home to 13 related research institutes."
Besides, with many exhibition centers in the district, on average, Changning hosts at least two garment industry exhibitions every month, which, according to Lu, is another important factor that pushes the industry's continuous development.