Ecological focus for Haidong New District

Building an ecological park and protecting wetlands and mangrove forests will be top priorities when a new urban area, called Haidong New District, is built in Zhanjiang, on China's southern coast.

Wang Zhongbing, mayor of the Guangdong city, said: "What we want is a place that can be beautiful in the following centuries, so ecology is the first thing to be considered."

Haidong is expected to be a new growth engine for Guangdong, the province that boosted China's rapid development since reforms and opening-up policies started in 1978.