Shanghai port gains 23%

Shanghai International Port (Group) Co, operator of the world's second-busiest container harbor, said profit rose 23 percent last year as China's rising trade boosted demand for sea cargo transport.

Net income climbed to 3.64 billion yuan, or 0.17 yuan a share, from 2.97 billion yuan, or 0.14 yuan, a year earlier, the company said in a Shanghai Stock Exchange statement yesterday. Sales climbed 27 percent to 16.3 billion yuan.

Shanghai, aiming to surpass Singapore as the world's busiest container port this year, boosted traffic 20 percent in 2007. Growth in cargo volumes and profit at Chinese harbors may slow this year as demand weakens in the US and China attempts to cool its economy.