An artist's view of Lujiazui Harbour City, a new commercial and leisure complex standing on the original site of Shanghai Shipyard in the city's Lujiazui area. [Photo/WeChat account: lujiazuijrc]

Lujiazui Harbour City, a new commercial and leisure complex standing on the original site of Shanghai Shipyard, is nearing completion with the curtain set to come up in 2018.

The harbour city, situated on an area of 250,000 square meters, integrates eight office buildings, a shopping mall, a walking street, a five-star hotel – the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a culture and art center, and high-end residential buildings.

Thanks to Lujiazui's status as a financial hub, commercial heavyweights including China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Life Insurance Group, and Hony Capital have been enticed to move into the office buildings, occupying a building each.

The walking street, Gala Avenue, will house 29 flagship stores and is expected to be complete by January 2018.

The culture and art center, Shipyard 1862, has been made refurbishing old shipyard buildings and factories, with the internal structure of the buildings remaining unchanged. There will also be a theater, a bookstore, art gallery, jewelry and watch exhibitions, as well as high-end restaurants in the center.

The complex, developed by CITIC Pacific Properties and China State Shipbuilding Corp, aims to develop into a landmark of Shanghai.