DENG Xuehui is busy looking for an apartment on Chongming Island.

"I want to buy a new apartment for myself as soon as possible. The price of houses here will certainly go up quickly in the coming years," said Deng, a 28-year-old hydraulic engineer who has been working on the Shanghai government-administered island since he graduated from college in 1998.

Deng's rush to buy a house on the island coincided with a message from the city government that the long-waited general development plan for Chongming was now complete.

After decades of silence, the development of the country's third-largest island, which is also considered to be Shanghai's "last piece of pristine land," has been finally put onto the agenda.

Li Shenghui, an official with the General Office of Shanghai Municipal Government, told the Shanghai Star that the general development plan has been worked out earlier this year, with the combined efforts of the Shanghai government and several domestic and international urban planning companies.

But the plan still needs the final approval of the government before the final version is unveiled soon.

"We are still finalizing it, certain revisions are still possible," said Li.

Nevertheless, the Shanghai government has decided to formally initiate the development of the island as the next key strategic step for the coming two decades following the successful development of Pudong into a prosperous financial district in the 1990s.

Chongming Island, situated at the mouth of the Yangtze River, has a population of around 650,000 and an area of nearly 1,200 square kilometres.

It is China's third-largest island after Taiwan and Hainan. Currently, agriculture is the island's backbone industry.

The general development plan, the first of its kind in Chongming's history, looks at the island's progress up to 2020.

"House prices on Chongming, propelled by the message of such a plan, have increased by around 1,000 yuan (US$121) per square metre since the beginning of this year," said would-be home buyer Deng.

The average price in Mingzhu Huayuan (Pearl Garden Community), a major real estate project which started construction this September with a total floor space of 300,000 square metres, has reached 3,000 to 3,500 yuan (US$363 to US$423).

Prosperous island

Under the general plan, Chongming will become a "Sea Garden" by increasing its current forest coverage from 16 per cent to 55 per cent by 2020.

"Our long-term goal is to build Chongming into an environmentally-friendly island," Huang Tiejun, told an irrigation work conference earlier this month. "And irrigation work is of key importance in this regard," Huang said.

Chen Hua, a senior engineer with Chongming's irrigation authority, told the Shanghai Star that the Shanghai municipal government had given orders to start some gigantic water conservancy projects next year to meet the island's afforestration plans.

Chongming's ecology will mainly consist of forests, lakes, wetlands and farmland, Chen said.

Under the plan, the island's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is expected to reach around US$20,000 by 2020, equalling or slightly surpassing Shanghai's expected average.

Massive construction

To meet the development of the island, the Shanghai government is planning to build the cross-river Shanghai-Chongming expressway, which will involve construction of one of the country's longest and largest tunnels, according to the city's urban planning authority.

"The plan has been selected, but we are still waiting for a final approval by the State Council," said Zhou Wenbo, general manager of the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co, the company in charge of tunnel construction for the project.

Construction of a trial section of the tunnel would begin by the end of this year, Zhou said.

Under the government plan, the expressway, running for 25.5 kilometres, will include an 8.95-kilometre tunnel connecting Shanghai's Pudong District with Changxing Island and a 10.29-kilometre cable-stayed bridge between Changxing and Chongming islands.

The expressway will have six lanes, designed for speeds of 100 kilometre per hour.

Huang Jinyuan, a senior engineer with the Shanghai Urban Construction Design and Research Centre who was involved in the project's feasibility studies, said the whole expressway would cost around 12.3 billion yuan (US$1.48 billion) and take at least five years to complete.

The expressway will further expand to connect Chongming Island with neighbouring Jiangsu Province in the north via a sea-bridge, Huang said.

Home to Disney Park?

A highlight in the island's general development plan is that its northern part, close to Jiangsu Province, will be the site of large-scale theme parks and stadiums.

Zhu Yilin, vice-governor of Chongming County, has said the county government was "actively negotiating with the Shanghai government for a large theme park project, such as a Disneyland."

Zhu's remarks were made late last month in an interview with the Chinese-language 21st Century Business Herald, only a week after Shanghai Vice-Mayor Jiang Sixian told a visiting delegation from the Taiwan-based Lien-Ho Pao (United Daily News) that Shanghai hopes to see a Disney theme park in around 2010, if negotiations proceed well.

This is the first time the Shanghai government has openly aired such a proposal and agenda.

Disney also admitted the possibility of a second theme park for China besides the one under construction in Hong Kong.

Previous local media reports said city officials had signed a non-binding letter of intent with Disney concerning the theme park project. The park would be located in Chuansha Town in Pudong. But city officials and Disney have denied the reports.

A source close to the Shanghai Municipal Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission said the city government has yet to decide whether to put the Disneyland in Pudong or in Chongming.

Chen Wei, a senior expert for Shanghai Regional Economy Study under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, noted that Chongming does need certain "bright spots" in its future development.

"A Disney theme park may be a good idea for Chongming," he said. "If Chongming can clinch some key projects, it will possibly make breakthroughs in its progress."

Chen Hua with the local irrigation authority said that the northern part of the island where the Shanghai-Chongming-Jiangsu Expressway will pass boasts abundant land resources and an advantageous geological location. A theme park there may attract tourists from Shanghai, Jiangsu and northern parts of the country, according to the engineer.

"I believe it is one of the most ideal sites for a Disney theme park," he said.

In addition, the northern part of the island would be divided into another four areas, with a special function for each, under the government plan.

The eastern part of the island, which boasts the Dongtan wetland, a resting place for birds migrating between Russia's Siberia and Australia, will be reserved as whole as a showcase of the island's ecologically sensitive development.

The central area of the island, currently the location of Chongming Dongping Forest Park, will further expand its forest area and the park will be turned into Shanghai's largest public recreational area.

The southern area of the island, where the Chongming County Government is now based, will be an area for residence, administration and pollution-free industries.

The western part, which includes the 200-hectare Mingzhu Lake (or Bright Pearl Lake), will be built into an international exhibition and convention area.