MOC to maintain development of Hong Kong port facilities
China's Ministry of Communications (MOC) intends to draft a comprehensive plan for port layout planning, a senior official said.
"The ministry will continue to support the Hong Kong port enterprises' efforts to invest in and harbour facilities on the mainland," said MOC Vice Minister Weng Mengyong.
"Meanwhile, the ministry will support mainland shipping enterprises' efforts to make full use of Hong Kong's ports' advantages and open container transport routes between the mainland and Hong Kong (from where container cargo would be shipped abroad)," he said in a Xinhua report.
Mr Weng said that after years of development, Hong Kong ports have obvious advantages in providing services, financial settlements and customs clearance. He suggested that Hong Kong would retain these advantages and try to lower the costs of transporting and distributing containers.
Currently, the port cluster in the Pearl River Delta is among the areas handling the greatest container volumes in China. Besides Hong Kong, Shenzhen port and Guangzhou port are also major ports in the region.
It is estimated that by 2010, the mainland ports in the Pearl River Delta will handle 40 million TEU, while Hong Kong port will handle 30 million TEU annually, the report said.
China has developed five coastal port clusters on the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, the south-eastern coast, the Pearl River Delta and the south-western coast. According to a national plan for coastal ports, these port clusters have different functions and serve the economic development of various hinterlands.