Zhou Jinglu / Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai seems to be full of high-end department stores and more appear to be being built every month. For those that want a change from these occasionally over priced outlets, there is some good news.
The construction of the Cao'an International Shopping center is now underway and it is set to be one of Shanghai's largest wholesale shopping outlets. The project was started this month and is scheduled to finish by the end of 2006.
Cao'an International Shopping Center is located on Cao'an Road in East Jiading District with a total area of 150,000 square meters. It is a multi-purpose center which offers a variety of different goods that are hard to find at other shopping centers, such as fur coats, textiles, fur bags and boxes. The goods in the center will be priced very reasonably and shoppers will be offered a huge selection of brands.
The shopping center is one of Cao'an Commercial Area's key projects, which is composed of nine big markets selling different kinds of goods such as shoes, fur clothing, leather bags, furniture and food.
In the commercial area, there are also many hotels and office buildings.
"Many more groups will set up branches here in the Cao'an commercial area because of its great potential and the endless stream of people who visit the centers everyday," said Zhang Hongwei, vice president of Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, one of the investors of the project.
He continued, "People in Shanghai consume a lot nowadays, especially young girls. They buy big brand clothes, jewelry such as bracelets, necklaces and rings and cosmetics. The city has a strong purchasing power, not only from the local people but also the expats. They are a large consumer group in Shanghai."
The city has a high volume of retail sales that have amounted to 20 billion yuan (US$2.48 billion) this year, according to industry sources.
Cao'an Commercial Area covers 1,000,000 square meters in total, including the International shopping center, the shoe market and seven other markets. Its annual volume of business is expected to amount to more than 13 billion yuan due to its good location.
Besides, the area plans to develop an environmentally friendly residential community with several big hotels, shopping centers and office buildings to enable visitors to feel relaxed and comfortable in Jiading District.
Cao'an International Shopping Center lies in the central area of Jiading District, which has convenient transport to downtown Shanghai and the neighboring provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
The network includes the Huning Express Way (from Shanghai to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province), Hujia Express Way (Downtown Shanghai to Jiading District), the Mid-ring Road and Outer-ring Road.
This makes it easier for shoppers to find their way to and from Cao'an commercial area. At present, four of the largest markets of its kind in Shanghai have settled there, including Shanghai Textile Market, Shanghai Steam Machines Market, Shanghai Vegetable Market and Fengzhuang Rice wholesale center.
Some department stores and supermarkets such as Lotus Super Center also support local residents' needs.
The markets in Cao'an Commercial Area have also been cooperating with other shopping centers, such as Haining China Leather Products Market, Yiwu China Commodities City, Shaoxing China Textile Industry City and Taizhou China Daily Necessities City.