Auto terminal to be completed next year
By Xiao Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-21 08:55

The Dalian Port will complete building the country's largest automobile terminal next year after a 300,000-ton ore wharf and a 300,000-ton crude oil wharf were put into operation earlier this year.

This will bring the port a step closer its goal of becoming the international shipping centre in Northeast Asia by 2010.

The Dalian Port Corporation has invested 600 million yuan (US$72.5 million) in the project with the co-operation of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and COSCO Pacific, said General Manager Sun Hong.

A 50-thousand-tonnage berth, two 10-thousand-tonnage berths and a 640-metre-long wharf for car-loading are to be built in the first phase, Sun says.

When completed next year, the terminal is expected to handle 600,000 automobiles every year, the largest handling capacity nationwide.

The construction follows two other important projects that became operational this year.

Both a 300,000-ton crude oil import terminal and a 300,000-ton ore import terminal, went into operation in May, making Dalian the largest trans-shipment centre for oil products and ores in China.

"We are moving steadily toward the goal of building Dalian Port into the international shipping centre in Northeast Asia by 2010," Sun said.

With a planned investment of 27 billion yuan (US$3.26 billion), Dalian is expected to be the centre of international petroleum products and liquid chemical products, containers, foodstuffs, coal and bulk cargo, Sun said.

The port's importance has grown in Northeast Asia because the economy in the area is prospering in the process of the Northeast China's rejuvenation.

Dalian is improving its port handling capacity, to meet the demands of increasing cargo flow in the northeastern region, Sun said.

With more than 70 per cent of the imports and exports in Northeast China going through Dalian, it is estimated that the port will enjoy a 20 per cent yearly growth alongside the recovery of the region's economy.

But the goal of an international shipping centre is still challenging for Dalian, as there are many other key ports in the area, such as Qingdao and Tianjin, as well as other northeastern Asian ports such as South Korea's Pusan.

Sun said he believed the interactive development of Dalian Bonded Zone and Dalian Port is of great importance in improving the port's attractiveness.

In August this year, the State Council approved seven of China's 15 bonded zones' setting up pilot zone-port interactive areas.

The area is a combination of bonded land and a nearby international port. A bonded logistics zone will usually be set up in the port area.

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