250,000-sq-m residential district built for foreigners in SW China

An artist's rendering of Tian Fu International Residential District, which is under construction in Chengdu, the capital city of West China's Sichuan Province. (Chengdu Daily Photo)

The first international residential community will be open exclusively to foreigners in Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, from October 2010, according to the Chengdu Daily.

Tian Fu International Residential District, currently under construction, will accommodate about 5,000 people in its villas and high-rises once completed. Its 250,000 square meters in area will be equipped with bilingual kindergartens, Western hospitals, libraries and a church designed by a European architect.

"With more and more foreign companies investing in this city, it is important to consider how to provide them comfortable living conditions in order to build a fine investment environment," Zheng Xiaoming, the head of the Planning and Construction Bureau of Gaoxin District, told the reporter.

Zheng also said there were nearly 20,000 residents from overseas, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan living in the city as of the end of 2009, and the number is increasing with the process of internationalization in Chengdu, one of the most important cities in West China.

"The community will be a modern international district because all the details of planning and construction have followed foreigners' suggestions," Zheng said.

Besides comprehensive international community services, the district has mixed Chengdu elements into the building style to help foreigners better adapt to local life.

Source: CRI online