A project to expand and renovate Caiwuwei, the city's financial hub in Luohu District, which has a concentration of financial institutions, began yesterday.

The renovation, which will cover an area of 46,000 square meters around the Shenzhen Grand Theater, is expected to turn the hub into a world-class one.

Some 135 buildings covering a total floor space of 148,500 square meters, among which 106 were erected by former villagers, will be pulled down and used to build deluxe residential and office buildings, whose construction area will total 380,000 square meters.

An official from the Luohu District Government said the government would compensate the owners of the buildings that were to be destroyed, and that the owners had agreed to the compensation arrangement.

Originally a rural village, Caiwuwei has become home to many financial institutions from both China and abroad, like the Shenzhen branches of domestic and foreign banks and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the past 25 years since the special economic zone was established.

Due to a lack of overall planning, the poor layout of old buildings and poor hygiene conditions have long plagued the area.

(Shenzhen Daily December 22, 2005)