Tianjin plans to build a world-class financial district equivalent to Shanghai's Lujiazui Financial Zone and is now seeking cooperation with Shanghai.

The 3.86-square-kilometer Yujiapu area within Tianjin's Binhai New Area will be the location for the financial hub. It is designed to attract big financial service providers. It will boast financial services, including banking, trading of loans, trusts, securities and bonds.

"We want to learn from Shanghai and have come here to seek guidance," Tianjin's Vice Mayor Cui Jindu said yesterday in Shanghai. "The Yujiapu Financial District is built to serve the fast-developing manufacturing sector in Tianjin, especially Binhai New Area."

Binhai New Area was selected in 2005 as a key development zone to power economic expansion in the Bohai Bay Rim.

Cui said it will take about 10 years to finish the basic construction in Yujiapu, including 12 buildings for conventions, conferences and other services. There will also be shopping malls, hotels, a waterfront park and a central avenue.

Investors are invited to fund these projects.

Ji Xiaohui, president of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, said it is a good thing for Tianjin to build a financial district.

"Good financial services are crucial to power the development of an area," Ji said. "It is wise for Tianjin government to construct such a district."