A statue of a bull similar to the Wall Street Bull will become a new landmark in Shanghai's financial hub of the Bund.

The statue, designed as a Chinese ox, is being sculpted now and will be in place in the Bund by the Huangpu River before the end of the Chinese Year of the Ox next February.

The bull signified a bullish and prosperous Bund "financial cluster area," which covers 260 hectares, district government officials said yesterday.

The Charging Bull in New York is a 3,200-kilogram bronze sculpture by artist Arturo Di Modica that sits in Bowling Green Park near Wall Street.

The Bund Financial Square, where Shanghai's bull will be placed, is to the south of Hankou Road and to the north of Guangdong Road.

The area is one of four squares in the financial area. The others are Huangpu Park, Chen Yi Square and Meteorological Square.

The Bund Financial Square was designed to provide a venue for major celebrations and rebadged Celebration Square last year.

But the original plan was changed and it was renamed the Bund Financial Square in April, after the city was designated to be built into a major international financial center and shipping hub by 2020 by the central government.

The district government has redeveloped numerous old office buildings, which were mostly built before liberation.

Many administrative companies and non-profit social organizations have been replaced by top-level financial institutions.

The Bund's financial cluster initially had 93 old buildings and 45 have undergone a facelift and seven are now targeted.

Rock Bund, the Peninsula Hotel more high-end residential areas, boutique hotels and department stores are also in the pipeline before the start of Expo.