China has reportedly invested 42 billion yuan in coastal port construction during the ninth Five-Year Plan period, mainly the construction of the transportation system for coal, containers and imported iron ores, especially the construction of the container transportation system, and has thus initially alleviated the bottleneck restriction exerted by port transportation on the development of the national economy. It is estimated that 93 middle-level berths, including 82 deepwater ones, will be built during the ninth Five-Year Plan period, and newly added handling capacity will reach 145 million tons.
Sources say that in the construction of China's seaports during the ninth Five-year Plan period, emphasis will be put on the structural adjustment, construction of container ports and other large deepwater harbors will be intensified, and efforts will be concentrated on building a group of deepwater container harbors in Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shenzhen. It is estimated that by the end of 2000, the handling capacity of container berths in coastal ports will have reached 12 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent containers), thereby laying a solid foundation for the formation of China's container hubs.
It is reported that China has focused on the establishment of a transportation system for coal, crude oil, iron ores and grain. It has finished the fourth-phase project of the coal dock of Qinghuangdao Port and started construction of the first-phase project of the coal dock of Huanghua Port and Nanjiang coal loading dock of Tianjin Port. Meanwhile, it also has built a group of coal unloading docks along the coast of east and south China. To meet the growing demand for imported crude oil and iron ores, China stresses reconstructing the crude oil docks of Dalian Port and Qingdao Port. In the light of the needs for the development of iron and steel enterprises, China has expanded Beilun ore dock, the 200,000-tonnage dock of Ningbo Port, and completed Qingdao ore port. Besides, it has also constructed Zhoushan Majishan ore unloading dock. A number of bulk grain docks have been built in the ports of Dalian, Yingkou, Xiamen and Fangchenggang which will be able to meet the requirement of grain transportation in the near future.
In order to meet the requirement of the development of large-scale shipping, China has dredged the sea-lanes of its key harbors. It has started construction of the first-phase harnessing project of the deepwater course of the Yangtze River and the project of the course of Guangzhou Port. The ferry transportation around the Bohai, Hangzhou Bay and Qiongzhou Strait continues to develop, which has basically solved the transportation problem concerning islands each with over 3000 people.
By the end of 2000, China will have boasted 2,400 middle-level berths of coastal ports and 640 deepwater wharves. The handling capacity will have reached 988 million tons.
(People's Daily 10/11/2000)
