Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai plans to start the construction of at least two tunnels across the Huangpu River and pavilions within the World Expo site.

These are among the 58 major urban projects earmarked for this year, city officials said yesterday.

They also launched a battle against illegal constructions -- both residential and public -- and encouraged locals to report any infringements.

"We will have more infrastructure projects this year than for many previous years," Shanghai Vice Mayor Yang Xiong said yesterday in a government meeting.

The city wants to invest a total of 69.2 billion yuan (US$8.65 billion) into 58 key urban construction projects this year. Last year, it invested 64.2 billion yuan into 48 projects.

More than half of this year's funds will be for infrastructure, including the Xinjian Road Tunnel, the Renmin Road Tunnel, several new Metro lines and 100-plus stations.

It also plans to build a huge underground vehicle tunnel below Zhongshan Road E1 in the Bund.

Eight expo-related projects with a combined investment of 22.1 billion yuan will begin this year within the expo site, including the public activity center and the Chinese and performance pavilions.

The city announced a three-year scrutiny of illegal constructions in a separate meeting.

Property managers should dial the 12319 hotline to report illegal private construction to the government, and officials will arrive within two hours.

The government will consider removing illegal constructions by force if cooperation is not forthcoming, officials said.