More Shanghai people investing in shop space, major local clothing markets say their booths are selling fast.

Nearly all shop spaces in the new Qipu Cloth and Attire Market have been sold since last September, officials with the market said.

The market is a five-story building of more than 1,000 square meters.

The price of each space, of six to seven square meters, is 400,000 yuan (US$48,368).

"Many of the buyers plan to open their own shops and others rent them out," said Qiu, deputy head of the market's customer service apartment.

He said he expects the rent of the booths to remain high because demand.

The Happy Ocean market in Pudong sold 90 percent of its 500 booths in the northern plaza in two weeks and is in talks with more than 200 investors on the sale of booths in the southern plaza. The market expects to seal the contracts in August.

The demand for shop space in the market is due to the high profits investors are anticipating from the market, said Cai, sales manager of the market.

Citing the northern plaza, she said the rate of return on a booth is expected to be as high as 6 percent.

"The good location of the market also helps draw many investors," Cai added.

"An estimated 300,000 people visit the Century Park and the Shanghai Technology Museum that neighbor the market every month. The large volume of visitors will provide a large customer flow for the market," Cai said.

The northern plaza of the Happy Ocean will make an official debut on September 28, while the southern plaza may open sometime later, according to its property management manger, surnamed Liu.

( eastday.com July 2, 2002)