A SEAFOOD town and market -- offering fresh seafood from up and down China's coast -- will be opened at Jinshan City Beach for the World Expo 2010.

Construction got underway last week on the 250 million yuan (US$36.6 million) project covering 3.36 hectares at the intersection of Tingwei and Huhang roads.

"It is set to become the city's biggest seafood market," said Jiang Weiling, the district government spokesman.

The seafood town will become a high-end marine business and recreation area offering dining, beach tourism and Hangzhou Bay cruising. It's expected to be a hot destination for visitors to Expo Shanghai.

"We hope to build it into a Jinshan version of the Southern California coastline," the spokesman said.

The town will offer fresh seafood from Qingdao, Shandong Province; Dalian, Liaoning Province; Ningbo, Zhejiang Province; and other coastal cities.

"With accelerated development of the beach and the opening of Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the number of visitors to Jinshan from city centers and other provinces is soaring," Jiang said. "This is pushing the beach's seafood market."