Dalian 'growing as shipping center'

DALIAN: Giant steps have been made to turn this city into an international shipping center, its mayor said yesterday at the ongoing annual meeting of the municipal people's congress.

"Although we have been hit by the recent financial crisis, the construction of some important projects is going well," Mayor Xia Deren said.

Located on the southernmost tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, Dalian faces South Korea and Japan across the Yellow Sea. It is well placed to be a shipping center in Northeast Asia.