COSCO interested in Kaohsiung terminal

COSCO interested in Kaohsiung terminal    State-owned COSCO Group said last week it is in talks to invest in a container terminal in Kaohsiung to be jointly developed by Taiwanese line Yang Ming and the Taiwan government, Dow Jones Newswires reported last week.
   The deal, if completed, would involve COSCO's terminal operating arm COSCO Pacific, COSCO Group President Wei Jiafu told Dow Jones on the sidelines of a shipping summit in Guangzhou.
   Yang Ming said in October it received separate offers from COSCO and China Merchants Group (another of China's major terminal operating companies) for a 40 percent stake in the Kaohsiung terminal.
   If either of the bids are successful in gaining regulatory clearance from Taiwan's government, it would be the first Chinese-owned stake in a Taiwan port.
   Kaohsiung, once the world's busiest container port, has seen volume stagnate in recent years as other Asian transshipment hubs emerged and mainland Chinese ports grew large enough to attract mainline vessels. However, growing economic relations between Taipei and Beijing are expected to herald more direct business between Taiwan and the mainland.