A commencement ceremony was held to celebrate the start of construction of the Ruzhou Sports Cultural Center on Dec 29, 2012. Yang Huixing, deputy director of the national people’s congress standing committee of Ruzhou; Guo Jie, vice-mayor of Ruzhou; and Zhang Yaofeng, vice-chairman of the Chinese people’s political consultative conference (CPPCC) of Ruzhou, attended the ceremony.

The Ruzhou Sports Cultural Center is located east of National Road 207 and north of Cheng Dong Rd. It spans about 690 meters north to south and about 350 meters east to west with an overall floorage of 96,670 square meters. Of the total area, 29,500 square meters become a main sports stadium, 21,595 square meters will be a multiple-use building, 9,147 square meters for a basketball stadium, 20,119 square meters for a natatorium, 3,893 square meters for a comprehensive gym, and 12,428 square meters for the conference center.

The total investment for this project is 350 million yuan ($56.2 million). Construction will last 1,080 days. The project was planned and designed by the Henan province City Planning Design and Research Institute. Henan Dongfang Construction Group is responsible for construction. (Reporter: Yang Zengtao, Correspondent: Dong Yingmei)www.chinadaily.com.cn