In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday, SIPG said an agreement has been signed with the municipality to jointly develop 13 berths that can each handle 3,000 tonnes of cargo along a 2,300-metre stretch of the Yangzte.
The 2.4 billion yuan ($343.7 million) project to build 12 multi-purpose berths and one ro/ro terminal is currently awaiting government approval and “the two sides will seek other investors”.
Chongqing, China's largest and most populous municipality, is also western China's largest inland river port. Traditionally, most of its cargo flows, especially to eastern China, move via the Yangzte.
This latest agreement with SIPG forms part of Chongqing's on-going five-year development plan (2006-10), which could see the municipality spend up to $930 million on port expansion projects.
City officials say extra capacity of about 80.16 million tonnes would be added to the port of Chongqing by 2010.
Reports estimate that upon successful completion of all the proposed expansion projects, the port's handling capacity could be raised to a total of 146 million tonnes by 2010.