Yiwu to expand trade mall

The world’s largest small-merchandise town, Yiwu, in Zhejiang province, plans to enlarge its US$665.78-million (RMB5 billion) international trading mall 1.75 million square meters to 4.35 million square meters, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The third phase of the mall’s development is scheduled to be completed by October 2008. The mall currently has 25,000 shops, including facilities for travelling and entertainment. Yiwu is made up of three similar malls and more than 50 shopping streets. At least 200,000 merchandisers have a presence in the town, and together they receive around 200,000 visitors a day on average.