Jilin City in northeast China's Jilin Province plans to invest 60 million yuan
(US$7.4 million) to build a comprehensive river port, sources with
Jilin Maritime Safety Authority said yesterday.
Zhai Lin, vice-president of the authority, said in an
interview that the completion of the Jilin port, located on the
Songhua River, would connect all the waterways of northeast
China.
The new port, which has an annual throughput of 2 million tons,
will be able to handle ships from Russia when it is finished.
As one of the national programmes for revitalizing the old
industrial base of northeast China, the port was put on the agenda
at end of 2003.
"The plan is to break ground at the beginning of 2007 and
construction will be finished in two phases. The first phase will
be completed in one year," Zhai said.
The capacity would then expand with increasing demand during the
second phase, he added.
Investment will come from the municipal government and
businesses.
So far several private enterprises and investment companies have
shown serious interest in the project, Zhai said.
According to official statistics, most goods in the city are
transported by rail, but this can now only meet one-third of
demand.
Since the price of water transport is much lower than rail or
road transportation, the new port is expected to be an important
transport channel for agricultural products such as soybean and
corn.
"The new port will play an important role in the economic growth
of Jilin and its surrounding areas," said Zhai.
About 50 years ago, operation of the old Jilin port was
suspended, as the Songhua River was too shallow for ships to
enter.
However, in 2004 a three-year project began to improve the
waterway.
The minimum width of the waterway will be over 50 metres, while
the minimum depth is 1.6 metres.
Despite temperatures dropping to as low as 25 C below zero in
winter, the river never fully freezes up.
(China Daily June 1, 2006)