A GROUNDBREAKING ceremony for European City, a Nanshan shopping mall which, when completed in 2008, will house outlets of four European retailing giants, was held yesterday.

As part of the ceremony, construction began on an outlet of Swedish furniture retail chain Ikea, which will be one of the four stores in the mall. The other three European retailers are British home improvement tools and supplies retailer B&Q, German supermarket chain Metro and French sports equipment manufacturer Decathlon.

Located near the intersection of North Ring Road, Shahe Road East and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, European City will occupy 105,000 square meters of land with a total investment of 1 billion yuan (US$125,000).

European City has been planned as "a household decoration business center in the Pearl River Delta region gathering world-renowned brands," according to the trade and commerce bureau of Nanshan District.

Other stores in European City will begin construction in early 2007. European City is scheduled to open in 2008.

Currently there are three Ikea stores in China ? in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The fourth Chinese store will open Nov. 29 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province. Occupying 30,000 square meters, the Shenzhen Ikea will become the Ikea business headquarters in South China, said Du Fuyan, president of Ikea Asia Pacific region.