The municipal government of Dalian announced on Saturday that the port at Dalian Changxingdao Harbor Industrial Area would open to the outside world.

According to the approval issued on July 30 by the State Council, 68 berths at Changxingdao would open up, 13 existing berths and 55 to be constructed in the next five years.

Dalian Changxingdao Harbor Industrial Area is located on the eastern side of the Bohai Sea and the middle part of the Liaodong Peninsula. It is composed of Changxing Island, Xizhong Island, and three other islands.

The area initiated official development in November 2005.

Li Changshun, deputy director of Dalian Changxingdao Harbor Industrial Area, said that in the past five years, four major industries, petrochemical sector, shipbuilding and ocean engineering, equipment manufacturing, and port logistics, attracted 155 projects both from home and abroad. The total investment value of these projects exceeds 350 billion yuan ($54.8 billion).

The area is expected to attract more World Top 500 companies during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).