A giant Ferris wheel is planned by Guangzhou to give the southern city's tourism business a lift.

The gigantic project is expected to cost more than US$100 million, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

According to the newspaper, the relevant city departments signed agreements with their foreign counterparts at the Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival earlier this week to jointly build and operate the project.

An official from the Guangzhou Municipal Commission of Development and Reform on Tuesday declined to give details of the project, saying that it was still in its preliminary stages.

"The project will be jointly funded by investors from home and abroad," he added.

The site for the Ferris wheel has not been chosen, the newspaper reported.

Shanghai and Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan Province, have already built their own giant wheels.

At more than 145 meters, the giant wheel in Changsha is the tallest wheel in Asia, while the Shanghai project is 108 meters.

During the one-week festival that ended yesterday, Guangdong Province signed 129 agreements worth more than US$1.6 billion with overseas investors to jointly construct tourism projects and facilities in the province.

Organizers said the event attracted more than 4,000 offshore investors and tourists, plus 6,000 domestic visitors.

Overseas investors were mainly from the United States, Japan and Europe as well as Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Bordering Hong Kong and Macao, Guangdong has recently become a big tourism center on the mainland.

To help boost its tourism industry, Guangdong has offered 72-hour visa-free stays to groups of foreign tourists entering the province from Hong Kong and Macao.

The province, known for its beautiful subtropical scenery and beaches, attracts millions of domestic and overseas tourists every year.

Editor: Donald