The National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai lights up the night sky. (Photo/Xinhua)
Jointly developed by the Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai municipal government, the four-leaf clover building has a gross floor area of 1.47 million square meters, almost 2.5 times that of the Shanghai Tower, the nation's tallest building and the second-highest in the world.
In total, it contains 400,000 sq m for an indoor exhibition space together with 100,000 sq m outdoor space leading to the north square, and it is regarded as the world's largest single block building for an exhibition, which makes it an ideal location for the CIIE, said Fu.
All of the center's 16 exhibition halls are huge－the 13 main halls are 28,000 sq m each and the other three are more than 30 meters high.
"However, due to the special requirements for the CIIE, which is not only merely a grand exhibition for imports, the building has earmarked spaces for bilateral and multilateral talks, and various forums.
"A three-month renovation starting at the end of May has greatly enhanced the NECC's handling capabilities," said Fu.
According to Fu, since Shanghai was announced as the host of the CIIE late last year, a more than 200-member team from the East China Architectural Design & Research Institute team has been working against the clock on renovation to fulfill the goal of "making every corner of the exhibition as colorful as possible with Shanghai characteristics.
