The first 100 families moved out of Shanghai's Pudong New District to new homes in a town on the city's outskirts on Sunday morning to make way for 2010 World Expo venues.

"It's a pity to leave my old home," said Xu Jinrong, a former Pudong resident, in an interview with Xinhua. "But we look forward to moving into bigger apartments."

China's largest city will resettle 10,000 families this year from their homes to new apartments.

Xu lived with 10 other family members, including his parents and three brothers. Their old home, nearly 100 years old, was 70 square meters. Now the four brothers will have a two-bedroom apartment each, he said.

Shanghai will build 5.28 square kilometers of facilities and infrastructure for the 2010 event, nearly four square kilometers of which will be located in Pudong New District.

According to the Expo's organizing committee, all civil construction is to start by 2007, which means the city has to resettle 300 organizations and 17,000 families in the next two years.

Shanghai has built 2 million square meters of residential apartments to resettle these families.

"The resettlement project aims to improve the quality of the Shanghai residents' lives," said Vice Mayor Zhou Yupeng.

The 2010 World Expo, held every five years, will be held in Shanghai from May 1 to October 31 with the theme of "better city, better life."

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2005)