The construction of the country's first comprehensive animal and plant quarantine center will kick off in the first half of this year in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province, local news portal ptnet.cn reported on April 9.

A computer rendering of an animal and plant quarantine and treatment center which is to be built in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in Fujian province. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

“We've completed paperwork for the project, land acquisition as well as an overall construction plan. Now we are cleaning up the site in preparation for construction,” said Yin Honglei, an official of the center.

Based on the plan, the center will be situated near the Jianmin Village in Aodong town and will resemble to the Beijing-based National Stadium, widely known as the Bird's Nest.

It will take up an area of 200 mu (13 hectares) and consist of two quarantine and treatment zones – one for animals and the other for plants – and several laboratories.

The construction is divided to three stages scheduled to take three to five years to complete.

The center will cement Pingtan's advantage in cross-Straits cooperation, according to Yin.

Once the project goes in to operation, Pingtan can qualify for imports of seedlings, trees, fruit, meat and aquatic products from Taiwan, which will guarantee biosecurity while promoting advanced agricultural technologies in Pingtan, he said.

The center will also serve as a platform for scientific institutes, colleges and enterprises from across the Taiwan Straits in scientific research and talent cultivation, he added.

Fujian has yet no a special location for quarantine and treatment of imported seedlings with soil, which are normally handled by ports in Foshan city in Guang province and Meishan zone in Zhejiang province.