Jiading district in northwestern Shanghai is expected to launch a three-year 30 billion yuan ($4.88 billion) expansion project as it moves to become an international automobile city.

"We plan to inject funds of 10 billion yuan ($1.63 billion) each year for the next three years toboost the automobile industry," said Cao Guangyu, deputy general manager of the ShanghaiInternational Automobile City Group Co Ltd, at the three-day Jiading Technology Fair which will close Saturday.

The fair, co-sponsored by the Jiading Science and Technology Committee and other Jiadinggovernment departments, is considered as a boon to the district's technology industry. A series of forums will be held to look into the future development high technologies.

"Funds will come from the enterprises operating in the auto city, foreign investors and thecompany itself," said Cao.

A total of 60 billion yuan ($9.76 billion) was initially spent to develop the auto city's 100 squarekilometers between 2001 and 2007.

"The annual investment for the next three years will be more than that in the previous years, butthe detailed plan is under way," Cao said.

The auto city generated an output value of 290 billion yuan ($47.2 billion) last year, up 15 percentover 2012. "But it needs a new financial injection to boost its development," he added.

The expansion project will cover part of the newly-added 4.9 square kilometers at ZhangjiangJiading Park as well as focus on developing electronic auto technologies and new energyautomobiles. The project will also help develop the automobile industry chain, automobileresearch and development. It will also cover the services and finance sectors.

Cao said a 200,000-square-meter auto R&D center, will be completed next year toaccommodate 200 auto R&D firms.

"We believe the three-year project will be a strong stimulus to the fast development of thedistrict's automotive industry," said Gao Yun, director of Jiading district.