Central Taiwan’s largest shopping outlet will open on December 12 this year in Taichung City.

The two-storey shopping mall, Mitsui Outlet Park Taichung, has undergone 16 months of construction and will contain 170 stores and restaurants. The second Mitsui complex in Taiwan, it has been built on a 44-acre plot adjacent to the local port.

The development, completely owned by a local affiliate company of Japan-based Mitsui & Co, has attracted numerous Japanese restaurant chains to enter the Taiwanese market.

Among the mall’s entertainment facilities is a 60m ferris wheel overlooking the ocean.

Mitsui is expected to open another shopping mall in Nangang, Taipei in three year’s time before developing in Tainan.