German halls back Shanghai expo site - Oct 00

SHANGHAI A Chinese-German joint venture is building the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), scheduled to open in the Pudong New Area in the second half of 2001. SNIEC is a venture between the Shanghai Pudong Land Development and Messe Hannover, Messe Munchen and Messe Dusseldorf, three of the biggest exhibition-hall owners in Germany. The building of the centre will take place in three stages and the first phase is under construction. The whole project includes 200,000sqm of indoor exhibition space and 50,000sqm of outdoor exhibition space. The first phase, following the scheduled opening, will make available 45,000sqm of indoor space and 20,000sqm of outdoor space. "After the construction of the whole project, SNIEC will be one of the largest exhibition centres in Asia," said SNIEC vice-general manager Ms Wang Liming.