A rendering of the Xiuyuan River cultural and tourism project in Zhangqiu district, Jinan, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/WeChat Account: qiluwanbao02]

The Xiuyuan River cultural and tourism project in Jinan's Zhangqiu district is expected to become a new landmark for the city after its construction.

The ecological tourism project is being developed by the Overseas Chinese Town Group (OCT Group) following an investment of 50 billion yuan ($7.43 billion).

With an area of 70 square kilometers across both sides of the Xiuyuan River, the project aims to develop a world-class urban riverside cultural tourism resort based on three core development concepts: an urban leisure belt, an ecological residence belt and a theme amusement belt.

The project is intended to form the functional structure of "one river, one belt and seven areas".

One river stands for the urban culture and tourism scenic river and one belt represents the Xiuyuan River riverside development area.

The seven areas include the North Station area, the hot spring residence area, the North Station western area, the lakeside life area, the urban core area, the scientific innovation and leisure area, and the themed entertainment area.

The Jinan OCT project started construction on May 28, 2018. The OCT Cultural Center, a comprehensive project integrating convention, entertainment, business and budget hotels, is expected to be completed by the end of this year and be put into operation in the first half of 2020.

Last year, Jinan's economic strength jumped to a new level. The city's total economic output ranked second in Shandong province. It was also included in the list of global second-tier cities and in Asia's top 50 cities.

The project developer, OCT Group, is a large-scale State-owned enterprise directly managed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). The company was founded in Shenzhen in 1985.

The group is committed to developing cultural industry clusters with Chinese characteristics, and improving the quality of life of Chinese people through its unique creative culture.

Over the years, OCT Group has cultivated a wide range of leading domestic businesses covering tourism and related cultural industries, real estate and hotel management.