A proposal to build a high-technology park in Shanghai - unveiled about nine months ago - is still on track and could have its first tenants in place in three years, according to key investor BAE Systems.
'We are beginning to get serious inquiries,' said Sir Richard Evans, chairman of the British firm formerly known as British Aerospace.
'We could have occupancy some 36 months from now.'
BAE Systems has teamed up with Arlington Securities, a British developer of industrial parks, and Shanghai's Caohejing Hi-Tech Park, to build the campus-style setting aimed at luring research and development arms of technology companies.
The joint-venture park, expected eventually to have a value of about US$3 billion, is one of several around Shanghai, a city that has focused on attracting firms from the information technology (IT) sector.
Several hi-tech companies, including politically powerful semiconductor firms, have opted to invest in Pudong in the eastern section of the city.
