At the end of 2005 China owned 1030 production berths (over 10,000 tons); 10 ports had joined the global top ten ports (100 million tons). China’s port handling capacity had amounted to 4.91 billion tons, up by 17.7% compared to the year of 2004; the container handling capacity also had reached 75.8 million TEU, up by 23% compared to 2004.

With a freight handling capacity of 443 million-tons, Shanghai Port rose to be the largest port in the world from the fourth place; the container handling capacity of Shanghai Port and Shenzhen Port achieved 18 million TEUs and 16.18 million TEUs respectively, enabling them to go up to the third and the fourth place accordingly. Meanwhile in 2005 another 129 berths were built, including 76 deep water berths (over 10,000 tons); handling capacity increased by 190 million tons. With a certain scale, port group around Bohai bay, Yangtze River delta and Pearl River delta has started developing in a more professional way. Moreover, China was ranked first in the world for three consecutive years in handling capacity of freight and containers.

With respect to expansion of the port industry, China’s port industry has had the best opportunities since 1990, and the risk is relatively lower. The Port Law, implemented on and after Jan 1 2004, has encouraged the organizations or individuals both at home and abroad to invest in port operations, and accordingly, provided China’s port industry with legal support to establish and improve diversified mechanism.

Transportation demand will keep up considerable growth in 2006, and freight traffic is expected to see a new record. Meanwhile, as China’s Western Development Drive, the rising of Middle China, and the rapid economic development of Yangtze River delta, all of those will further promote the transportation between East and West, and in addition to the diversified international market and the increase of large scale materials, China’s port freight transportation market is in short supply, and the container handling capacity will retain rapid growth. Consequently, the overall handling capacity and layout of coastal ports and berth construction are under big pressure.

China’s port construction from 2006 to 2007 will focus on specialized dock construction of coal, petroleum, ore and containers, to construct & reconstruct coal loading docks in Qinhuangdao, Tangshan and Tianjin; to accelerate the construction of crude oil handling docks (over 200,000 tons) in ports of Dalian, Qingdao and Ningbo; accelerating the construction of 200,000-ton ore docks in coastal ports and Yangtze river estuary; to accelerate the construction of Shanghai International Shipping Center and large-sized container docks in hub ports of Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and the construction of related feed ports.

In the near future, China’s port industry will gradually develop steadily after a rapid growth. However, it is still of high value to invest in hub ports in view of strategy thanks to the increase of handling capacity of domestic trade as well as the great space for rise in handling charges rate. Therefore, China’s port industry shows a promising future. From 2006 to 2010, China plans to increase the port handling capacity by 80% or more. By 2010, the annual handling capacity of Chinese ports will reach 6.1 billion tons, and the container handing capacity also will be 120-140 million TEUs. The rise of China’s port industry reflects the rapid development of China national economy.