Fuzhou plans to speed up construction of port
By Li Dapeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-10-27 22:28

The capital city of East China's Fujian Province is set to accelerate its port construction as a means to beef up the city's economic development.

The Fuzhou city government has drawn up a plan mapping out the port's future development strategy, which was approved by the Ministry of Communications early this month.

"Fuzhou Port will play a bigger role in cross-Straits communication as it's getting stronger day by day," Zhang Rong, vice-director of the Fuzhou Harbour Administration, said. The port, with Xiamen, the province's other major port, is also expected to better facilitate direct shipping to Taiwan Province.

Fuzhou Port is expected to become a modernized multi-functional port, with a long-term ambition to become one of the region's central ports, according to the plan.

"Integrating the comprehensive resources of Fuzhou Port, the plan will act as a guideline to bring all the port's available resources into play and therefore boost the economic development of the city," he said.

The city has planned to spend 7 billion yuan (US$843 million) in the expansion of the port, said Fuzhou's Vice-Mayor Huang Xuhe.

Fuzhou Port, one of the country's 20 hub ports, has the benefit of natural coastline resources which have not been fully taken advantage of, Huang said.

Fuzhou Port has been restricted to develop its business inside the mouth of the Minjiang River, without making full use of the port's natural benefits.Furthermore, the industries around the port have been developing slowly for a long time.

The plan has also clearly defined the different functions and development goals of the four wharves under the port's administration.

In 2003, Fuzhou Port's cargo throughput was 47.53 million tons, ranked 10th of coastal ports in China.

Compared with Xiamen Port, Fuzhou Port has better coastal resources, but is fairly weak in its deep-water container berth capacity, said Zhang.

"Because Fuzhou and Xiamen are quite close, the two ports will surely compete," Zhang said, "but the development of both ports will be consistent for the benefit of the province," he said.

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