Ground was broken at Sanxi Technology & Innovation Town in Qianshan to initiate Phase 1 of full development at a cost of 1.36 billion yuan ($211 million) to Xiangzhou District.

Construction of the first two schools and three roads are considered key public service projects. Among them, Sanxi Kindergarten will cost 70 million yuan ($11 million), cover 5,700 sqm (1.4 acres), and open in September 2022. It will have 18 classes for 540 preschoolers. Sanxi Primary School, meanwhile, will cost 223 million yuan ($35 million) and begin enrollment at the same time with 48 classes for 2,160 students on a plot of 25,000 sqm (6.2 acres).

In all, Sanxi Technology & Innovation Town will have nine public kindergartens, four primary schools, and four middle schools for children of industrial park employees. 

Rendering of Sanxi Kindergarten [Photo by Zhao Zi / Zhujiang Evening Post]

Sanxi, Meijie, and Chuangyuan roads also came under construction to support formation of a Four Vertical & Four Horizontal road network. The combined cost is 3.73 billion yuan ($578 million).

The first phase of north-south Sanxi Road is priced at 320 million yuan ($50 million). It is to have six lanes 2.44 km (1.52 miles) long between Chuangyuan and Ligong roads.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the north-south Meijie Road will cost 430 million yuan ($67 million). The urban secondary route will comprise the Jinxi Road feeder, West and Central Meijie Road, Chuangyuan Road, and First Proposed Road, which total 3.44 km (2.14 miles) in length. 

East-west Chuangyuan Road, 1.6 km (1 mile) long and 24 m (79 ft) wide, will go from Nanfu Road to National Expressway G105 (Gudu Avenue). The urban secondary road will have four lanes and cost 110 million yuan ($17 million).

More than 10 billion yuan ($1.55 billion) will be invested over three years to build or upgrade 22 roads, smooth out transport connections with Zhongshan City, and integrate the small town into the Greater Bay Area transportation network.

In addition, more than 10 billion yuan will be spent during the 14th Five-Year Period (2021-25) to improve local transport, ecology, and such public service facilities as neighborhood centers, talent apartments, and nurseries. Talents' demands for children's education, living, housing, and medical treatment are to be professionally managed.

The small town will shift its development from factor-driven to talent-based and innovation-driven, foster a talented youth- and eco-friendly and culture-inclusive environment, and deepen industry-city integration, said Zheng Guoliang, director of the Standing Committee of the Xiangzhou District People's Congress.

Covering 13.24 sq km (5 sq mile) of land, Sanxi Technology & Innovation Town spans Lixi, Fuxi, Nanxi, and Jiechong old villages (which are west and northwest of Meixi Royal Stone Archways), the Shanxing Industrial Zone, and former Qianshan Commerce & Trade Logistics Park. Construction commenced in March 2020 on the first Sanxi project, Gechuang Jicheng, a "smart" industrial park empowered by the Internet, Internet of Things, cloud computing, and big data.