China Shipping, Modern Terminals to jointly develop Yang Shan in Shanghai

China Shipping Terminal Development Co, Ltd. (CSTD), a subsidiary of the Shanghai-based China Shipping Group, and Hong Kong container terminal operator Modern Terminals Ltd, a member of the Wharf Group, have signed an agreement to participate jointly in the development of the Yang Shan Deepwater Port project in Shanghai. In a press conference held at the Shanghai International Convention Centre in August, It was pointed out that the Central Government and the State Council of the People's Republic of China are giving their full support to the development of Yang Shan Deepwater Port. The companies said they were pleased by the endorsement of the joint venture alliance by the Shanghai Municipal Government. Leveraging on their respective expertise as a major shipping line and a highly experienced container terminal operator, they said they would be able to realise the project's full potential. The envision the project as becoming key in transforming Shanghai into one of China's leading international economic, financial, trading and shipping centres. The Shanghai Municipal Government and authorities in neighbouring provinces regard the construction of an international shipping centre in Shanghai as an important element and a high priority in China's economic development in the 21st century. To enhance the overall competitiveness of China's position as an international container terminal hub in the Northeast Asia region, Shanghai needs to develop a deep-water container port with a draft of at least -15 metres that can cope with the growing size of container vessels and the establishment of strategic alliances and networks by the world's shipping lines. Yang Shan Container Port will be designed to handle container vessels of the latest generation, with a capacity of 8,000 TEUs. Followed by the signing ceremony on 14th August 2003. The events were co-hosted by Mr Li Kelin, President, and Captain Mao Shijia, Assistant President of the China Shipping Group; and Mr Erik Bøgh Christensen, Managing Director of Modern Terminals. "China Shipping (Group) Company aims to build itself into a world-class shipping enterprise in the period of the current 10th five-year plan. This is in line with the government targets of turning Shanghai into an international shipping centre and developing Shanghai Port as the world's third largest container hub port," said Li Kelun, President of China Shipping Group. Erik Bøgh Christensen, Managing Director of Modern Terminals, remarked on the cooperation between the two companies, "This is a very good example of an all-win solution for the development of the Yang Shan Deepwater Port. Modern Terminals, with our 3-decade solid foundation of terminal development and operations expertise, is very delighted to be able to contribute to this big port infrastructure project in Shanghai." The two companies established a joint working team for the project in July. Feasibility studies are now underway, and the working team will liaise more actively with all the other parties concerned during the coming months. A joint venture company will be formed in due course as the vehicle for their investment in the project and its subsequent development. China Shipping Group (China Shipping) is one of the key stateowned enterprises under the direct administration of the Chinese Central Government and is a super-large shipping conglomerate that operates across different sectors, different regions and countries. China Shipping (Group) Company operates five specialized shipping fleets of container vessels, oil tankers, bulk ships, passenger ships and special cargo ships, with a total number of more than 400 vessels, deadweight of more than 11mn tonnes, container transport volume of over 3.5mn TEU and throughput of 200mn tonnes per annum. It also operates terminal management, integrated logistics, finance and investment, engineering and manning service, supply and trading and IT. China Shipping Development and China Shipping (Hainan) Haisheng, both controlled by China Shipping (Group) Company, are listed on the Hongkong and Shanghai stock exchanges respectively. Established in April, 2001, China Shipping Terminal Development Co., Ltd. (CSTD), one of the first-class subsidiaries affiliated to China Shipping Group, specializes in domestic and foreign marine terminal investment, operation and management. Currently China Shipping Terminal Development has joint ventures to operate several container terminals in the ports of Dalian, Lianyungang, Shanghai and port of Los Angeles in the US. The annual handling capacity of these terminals reaches 4mn TEU. Meanwhile, in 1998, Modern Terminals began to extend its operations to the Mainland by winning the management contract for Shekou Container Terminals (Phase 1) in Shenzhen through a joint venture with P&O Ports. It subsequently acquired equity stakes in Chiwan Container Terminal Co., Ltd., and Shekou Container Terminals (Phase 2). The opening of Modern Terminals' Shanghai Representative Office in 2002 signalled the company's commitment to extend its participation in port developments to Northern and Eastern China.