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Inland Ports along the Golden Waterway Aim Gold
Shanghai (March 6, 2007)—Inland port authorities for the Yangtze River, the third-largest in the world which has been catching increasing significance from national and local governments are inviting domestic and international investors to develop terminals along this “Golden Waterway.”
The investment attraction involves over eight billion yuan and pitches will be collectively announced to investors at a port conference which is to be held on April 12 at the Regal International Hotel in Shanghai. The conference will be followed by site tour to some ports upstream.
Global shipping firms such as Maersk and CMA CGM have confirmed they will send representatives to attend. Officials from almost all ports along the river also will attend and offer projects at ports including Wuhan, Tongling, Jingjiang and Yibin, according to Zhang Tingting, China consultant for Alain Charles Publishing—organizer of the event.
Wuhan Port will seek interest in the second phase expansion of Henyang container terminal and Yangluo Terminal's second phase with total investment of 1.4 billion yuan. Tongling Port, Jingjiang Port and Yibin Port will market their bulk and container terminal projects with total investment of 5.4 billion yuan.
The Yangtze River stretching 6,300 kilometers through seven provinces and two cities including Shanghai and Chongqing is the main artery connecting the eastern, central and western regions, carrying 50% of China’s inland cargo in tonnage terms and nearly 80% in terms of ton mileage.
Chinese policy makers are seeing the Yangtze River as a key tool in the country’s economic agenda. It is actually part of the government's "Great Development Plan for the West" has been launched since 2000 to develop 12 western provinces and cities, such as Chongqing, Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet and Shaanxi.
The shipping on the Yangtze River has been listed as key project to be developed in the coming five years by the Ministry of Communications. 15 billion yuan of fund will be allocated to the third-phase dredging at the estuary of the river, the refurbishment of the trunk line and the supportive facilities to shipping along this “Golden Waterway.”
China’s blueprint for the river was minted on November 21, 2006 in a Nanjing meeting that issued an “Overall Program for Promoting Construction of the Golden Waterway of the Yangtze”—a document that was signed by the ministry of communications and representatives of governments from along the river.
Shanghai—the world’s largest port which handled 537 million tons of cargo in 2006 was admitted to be a city of limited resource of cargo but fortunately enjoy a vast hinterland along the Yangtze, according to Lu Hailu, Chairman of Shanghai International Port Group on an international inland shipping forum held in Wuhan January this year.
“SIPG cultivates the container market by spreading management, capital and technique along the Yangtze River, collects cargo by extending its services, reallocates its resources and achieves win-win results through co-operation,” said Mr Lu, revealing that SIPG has set up more than 10 joint ventures with Yangtze River ports such as Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing.
Matthew Flynn, Managing Director of Hong Kong-based Flynn Consulting, has conducted a much detailed survey on the ports and shipping status along the Yangtze River. He said as long as the local governments and the national government make concerted efforts in dredging the channels, smoothing the traffic and keeping on standardizing the ships, this “Golden Waterway” will lead to more successful shipping stories.
“Inland ports need to broaden their vision, introduce foreign partners and improve both hardware and software so as to better serve local economy. Foreign investors are also keen to seek more opportunities to develop their business further upstream,” said Flynn. “Such an international port conference will be a great opportunity to match them up.”
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