HUTCHISON PORT GROUP BUYS STAKE IN NINGBO TERMINAL IN EAST CHINA

HUTCHISON PORT GROUP BUYS STAKE IN NINGBO TERMINAL IN EAST CHINA    Hutchison Port Holdings, the Hong Kong-based international port group, has signed an agreement with the Ningbo Port Authority to jointly operate and develop a terminal in the deep-water port of Ningbo, located near Shanghai.
   Hutchison Port Holdings has acquired a 49 percent iterest in the joint venture company, which operates a terminal called Ningbo Beilun Port Phase II. The existing Phase II terminal occupies 44,000 square metres of land and features three container berths, a quay length of 900 meters and depth alongside of 13.5 meters.
   Hutchison Port Holdings said that the joint venture with the port authority will invest 2 billion RMB in the ongoing development of the terminal.
   Hutchison Port Holdings said that Ningbo Beilun, a natural deepwater port, handled over 900,000 TEUs last year.
   The joint venture investment is the latest of a large number of terminals and projects of the Hutchison Port Holdings group in mainland China. In addition to the new Ningbo venture, the Hutchison group has port activities in the Chinese ports of Gaolan, Jiangmen, Jiuzhou, Nanhai, Shanghai, Shantou, Xiamen and Yantian.
   John Meredith, group managing director of Hutchison Port Holdings, said that the Ningbo development “represents the government’s welcoming towards international investors and the continued restructuring of China’s transport infrastructure projects.”