Chinese company gains Darwin Port for US$370m
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 16, 2015
Chinese-owned Landbridge Group has secured a 99-year lease on the northern Australian port of Darwin after paying AU$506 million, the Northern Territory (NT) Government announced this week.
![Chinese-owned Landbridge Group has secured a 99-year lease on the northern Australian port of Darwin after paying AU$506 million (US$370 million), the Northern Territory (NT) Government announced this week.[File photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20151016/7427ea210acc178add4d01.jpg "Chinese-owned Landbridge Group has secured a 99-year lease on the northern Australian port of Darwin after paying AU$506 million (US$370 million), the Northern Territory (NT) Government announced this week.[File photo]") |
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The northern Australian port of Darwin.[File photo] |
Under the agreement, Landbridge will get the rights of 100% operational control of the port and 80% ownership of Darwin Port’s land holdings, facilities of the East Arm wharf including the marine supply base and Fort Hill wharf.
The remaining 20% will be held by the Northern Territory Government for the first five years to fulfill the government's commitment to maintain a meaningful level of Australian equity in the port, according to the official announcement.
The Territory will also retain a range of oversight and regulatory functions including the Regional Harbor Master role and responsibility for price and access regulation.
NT chief minister Adam Giles said, “Landbridge was selected following a competitive process which included local and international interests. My government has always said that this transaction is about growing the port and the economy. The Territory would benefit from Landbridge's ‘position, networks and experience’ in Asia.”
Landbridge has confirmed its intent to maintain the established workforce at the Port of Darwin and that there will be no forced redundancies during the term of the current Enterprise Agreement which terminates in June 2018.
"Landbridge plans on making considerable financial investment in the Port of Darwin to grow two-way trade between Australia and China. In addition to committing an initial AU$35 million of new growth investment expenditure over the first five years, we anticipate AU$200 million of capital expenditure will be made over the next 25 years,” said Landbridge Infrastructure Australia's director, Mike Hughes.
Andrew Robb, the federal minister for trade and investment said the agreement was a “powerful sign of the enhanced commercial relationship between Australia and China flowing from the China-Australia free trade agreement.
“Landbridge's investment in the port would be ‘a huge spur’ to the development of Australia's north and encourage additional investment in agriculture, resources and energy and infrastructure,” he added.
Australian media reported that several state governments in the country are now planning to sell the leasing rights of ports, like Fremantleand Melbourne, hoping to invest the earnings in medical services, education, transportation and other infrastructure projects.
Landbridge Group is a privately-owned Chinese entity that operates a 30 million tonne per annum port in North Haizhou Bay in Shandong Province, strategically located between Beijing and Shanghai.
It is in the process of expanding its port capacity to in excess of 200 million tonnes per annum-more than 65 times the current volume at the Port of Darwin.
The Group also has hotel and tourism, trade and manufacturing, real estate and petrochemical interests in Chinese mainland together with interests in Australia through its subsidiary Westside Corporation, an oil & gas producer based in Queensland.
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