Port operator China Merchants Group and Qingdao Port on Friday said they are setting up a 6.22 billion yuan joint venture to build and operate a container terminal in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Qingdao New Qianwan Container Terminal, invested by Qingdao Port Group, COSCO Pacific, DP World, AP Moller-Maersk Group and Pan Asia Shipping, and China Merchants Group's unit China Merchants Holdings (International) Ltd, will hold stakes of 50 percent each in the new venture.

The venture called Qingdao Qianwan United Container Terminal Co Ltd will develop, operate and manage a total of nine berths with a shoreline of 3,163 m in Qingdao.

It would benefit China's second-largest trade port during worldwide industry restructuring amid the global financial crisis, Qingdao Port said.

"The shortcut for succeeding in the competition among the international ports is to join hands with global shipping powerhouses," said Chang Dechuan, chairman of the board of Qingdao Port Group.

"The shipping powerhouses will open up huge markets for cargo business to the Qingdao Port," he said.

The Qingdao Port, the world's seventh largest in terms of trade volume, shipped more than 300 million tons of goods in the year to Dec 13, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent.

Container throughput rose 2.3 percent in the first 11 months to 9.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

"The new venture is a combination of strength, which will not only increase its ability to deal with the economic crisis but promote the development of Qingdao Port," said Fu Yuning, president of China Merchants Group.

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