[轉貼]China drafting strategic port development plan

Published December 28, 2004 Report says move to avoid wasteful competition among regional govts (HONG KONG) China is taking steps to bring port development under national control as individual provinces compete for investment in the booming sector, a press report said here yesterday. Efforts to draft a long-term strategic plan for the industry come as container terminals proliferate along coastal regions prompting concerns of wasteful competition among regional governments, the South China Morning Post said, citing an senior official at the Ministry of Communications. A port planning guideline, to be released in 2005, will list the capabilities and potential of major ports, the report said. The ministry will look at overall interests when drafting the plan, balancing local port development requirements with national economic growth, the SCMP said. Major coastal cities - including Shanghai, Ningbo, Tianjin, Qingdao and Dalian - have aggressively expanded their ports by attracting private sector capital and the investment flood has raised concerns about overcapacity. On Wednesday, Premier Wen Jiabao and the State Council, the country's Cabinet, approved an intermediate plan for port developments in the Bohai Rim and Yangtze River and Pearl River deltas. The State Council has stressed the need for central planning to better coordinate individual projects. The government has put several port projects on hold, including the Dachan Bay and Yantian Phase IIIB projects in southern China's Shenzhen city. The two projects have been frozen for almost two years as part of efforts to slow the expansion of Shenzhen port, industry sources said. Shenzhen port, which saw container throughput grow 28 per cent year-on-year to 12.39 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) in the first 11 months of this year, is the second busiest port on the mainland after Shanghai. Tianjin in northern China plans to develop facilities while in the Yangtze River Delta, Ningbo is challenging Shanghai's US$18 billion Yangshan deep-water port after announcing a nine-berth project at Chuangshan. - AFP