A ground-breaking ceremony for the Yiwu International Chilled Fresh Food City is held on June 30. [Photo/zgyyw.cn]

Construction started on the Yiwu International Chilled Fresh Food City on June 30.

With a total investment of about 2.47 billion yuan ($368.74 million), the project will be built on the south side of Guomao Avenue and cover an area of 34.87 hectares. The whole city will be made up of four areas, including a cold chain center, a wholesale market for fruit and frozen products, a wholesale market of vegetable and aquatic products, and a reserved area for further development.

The cold chain center, with investment totaling about 500 million yuan, will be built first. With a total construction area of about 58,000 square meters, it will be built into a high-standard three-dimensional cold storage of 300,000 cubic meters.

Intelligent technologies such as automatic temperature control, information-based warehouse configuration, smart reporting, and cloud stock-taking and statements will be used at the center.

The Yiwu International Chilled Fresh Food City is expected to develop a multi-functional agricultural product trading center integrating cold chain logistics, trade of imported meat, chilled aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products, e-commerce services, bonded warehousing, inspection and quarantine. It will become an important international cold chain logistics hub in the Yangtze River Delta, creating many jobs for locals in the city, according to officials.