THERE will be extra tight security to ensure that hundreds of millions of yuan worth of jewelry at a fair, which starts today, will be kept safe and secure.

Jewelry Shanghai 2008, the four-day event held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong New Area, will be the biggest jewelry exhibition in east China boasting a huge collection of glittering precious stones that cost at least 640 million yuan (US$92.8 million).

"We are trying our best to make the jewelry fair to be the most exciting, eye-catching and safe event in Shanghai,'' said Hou Jie, general manager of Broadway Exhibition, one of the organizers.

There will be 500 police officers providing security at the fair, an increase of 20 percent in manpower from the year before. Other security measures include deploying 2 police dogs, more than 100 surveillance cameras and explosion-proof films applied on exhibition shelves. The organizer said infra-red security systems will be turned on after the show closes every day and all the displayed jewelry will be kept locked in special containers.

Visitors have been asked to bring their identity cards to register and for access to the exhibition area.