The total port throughput on the Chinese mainland is expected to
reach 7.5 billion tons in 2010, or about a fifty percent increase
over that of 2005, a top Chinese transportation official said in
Tianjin on Wednesday.
Over the next five years, China's total volume of exports and
imports is estimated to increase by more than 10 percent annually,
which is a powerful driving force to its port development, said Li
Shenglin, Minister of Communications, at the first Chinese Port
City Mayors' Summit held in this northern port city of Tianjin.
Over 90 percent of China's export and import goods are
transported through its ports. Official statistics show main
coastal ports on the Chinese mainland realized about 4.85 billion
tons of throughput in 2005, ranking first in the world for the
third consecutive year.
China will speed up investment and construction of ports, to
improve their service functions, technological and mechanical
innovation and enhance their throughput capability, Li said.
China has decided to strengthen the construction of five key
port groups, including the port groups at the Yangtze River and the
Pearl River deltas, according to Li.
(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2006)