Funding for a world-class high-end urban complex in Jida of Grade-A office buildings, shopping centers, boutique hotels, and high-end apartments called "City Heart" was approved on June 19.

The China Everbright Bank's Guangzhou Branch signed the loan contract for 20 billion yuan ($2.83 billion) with Zhuhai Huafa Group. Huafa will first address the 89,900-sq-m (22-acre) Core Area. The triangular plot between Jingshan Road and South Haibin Road west of Haibin Park and Jida Bus Terminal, will have a total floor area of 890,000 sq m (220 acres), according to a Huafa executive. 

Artist's illustration of City Heart core area facing Haibin Park between Jingshan and South Haibin roads [Photo provided by Zhuhai Huafa Group to WeChat account: zhuhaifabu]

The first of two phases, with a business scale of 130,000 sq m (32 acres), includes a tower building, large indoor business center, and themed business street for shopping, catering, and leisure entertainment. Together with the second phase, it will become Zhuhai's largest and most upscale shopping center with a 200,000 sq m (49 acres) devoted to business.

World-renowned architectural firm Aedas oversees the design of four signature tower buildings, commercial annex buildings, and support facilities. A modern coastal garden-styled environ and high-end business experience center for one-stop office, tourism, culture, and leisure functions is envisioned. In Zhuhai, Aedas also designed, for instance, Hengqin CRCC Plaza, Hengqin International Financial Center, MCC Headquarters Complex Phase 2, and TCM Science & Technology Industrial Park.

Covering 700,000 sq m (173 acres) in all, City Heart will consist of the Core, Central, and Nanshan areas, which correspond respectively to the Jida Business Circle and Jida and Nanshan industrial zones.

Plans for the Central Area between Jida Road and East Jiuzhou Avenue south of South Haibin Road are progressing. Beyond that, the Nanshan Area south of East Jiuzhou Avenue and north of Shihua Mt will encompass a primary school, kindergarten, 30,000-sq-m (7.4-acre) stomatological hospital, parkland, and hotels.

In the 1990s, the Jida Business Zone comprised numerous time-honored business complexes, starred hotels, and financial institutions, including the Duty-Free Emporium, Zhuhai Department Store, Zhuhai International Trade (Guomao) Shopping Plaza, Crowne Plaza Zhuhai City Center, and Everbright (Guangda) Building, which at the time made it the most prosperous and glittering district in Zhuhai.

Since then, run-down building and site appearances, traffic jams, low intensification of land use, unreasonable functional layout, and lack of public services and support facilities ruined that image in the midst of rapid urban development.

The Zhuhai Party Committee and government initiated the City Heart project in 2013 to revitalize the area and further establish Zhuhai as an international livable city. The 2-million-sq-m (494-acre) renovation, including project planning, design, relocation compensation, construction, and operation, was entrusted to Huafa Group.