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.

The new district has a planned area of 228 sq km, including 180 sq km of land and 48 sq km of sea. It will boast a 120-km coast including a long, sandy beach.

A river will run across the new district and 11 major roads, including a 26-km-long avenue, are being built. A total of 21 projects, worth 21.3 billion yuan ($3.4 billion), have started, most of which are infrastructure based.

"Public service facilities are our top priority. A school, a hospital, a public service center and a sports center are under construction," said Wang.

The sports center consists of four shell-shaped white buildings, including a main stadium, a swimming and diving center, a soccer field and a stadium with basketball and tennis courts.

Wang stressed the importance of urban planning in the construction of the new district. He said his government borrowed experience from ecologically successful cities in the world for the project.

"There are many ecological communities on our earth. For example, Portland of the United States has rivers crisscrossing it. We are borrowing advanced experience in the building of Haidong and will have a Sino-US ecological exemplary zone," he said.

"The government of such a beautiful place as Zhanjiang can make great achievements in the building of an ecological city," he said.