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Ports take centre stage
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THE city plans to build Shenzhen Port into one of the world's top ports during the 10th Five Year Plan period. In the next five years, a total of 15.6 billion yuan (US$1.872 billion) will be spent on building 13 port projects, including the third phase of the Yantian International Container Terminals and the second phase of the Shekou Terminals. It is expected that Shenzhen Port will possess a handling capacity of 6.5 million twentyfoot equivalent units (TEUs) by 2005 and a staggering 100 million TEUs by 2010.
With China's expected entry into the WTO, it is essential for the city's port infrastructure to be upgraded as quickly as possible to meet the increasing demand of handling capacity. The Shenzhen Municipal Administration for Port Affairs, port enterprises and related departments met recently to discuss the construction plans.
It is reported that the 15.6 billion yuan earmarked for the expansion accounts for one-fourth of the total investment for the nation's port construction.
Since the founding of the SZ Special Economic Zone, SZ port has seen fast development. Statistics show that by the end of last year Shenzhen was equipped with 128 berths for 500-tonne ships, 39 deepwater berths for 10,000-tonne vessels and 10 berths specially assigned to container liners. A web of international container freight routes covering America, Europe, Asia and Mediterranean regions has taken shape. In addition, SZ port is the top container port in China on a monthly basis. Last year, it ranked 10th in the world.(Alfred Zhang)
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