Dongjiakou Harbor will be transformed into an international freight center with the construction of two huge docks.

A dock for iron ore with the capacity to handle ships carrying up to 400,000 tons will be the first one of such a scale in China and will be in operation by the end of the year.

A second dock for oil-tankers with a handling-capacity of 450,000 tons will also be built.

Once construction is completed, the harbor will be an important shipping terminal for bulk cargo, liquid chemicals, coal and iron ore in the Shandong Peninsula.

"The construction is key to building Qingdao's marine economy," said Hu Shaojun, vice-mayor.

As well as the new docks, the new harbor will be an important platform for industries such as logistics, finance, tourism and real estate, and will help to drive the city's economic growth.

An overall plan for the expanded harbor area was approved last March and construction will begin on May 31.

The harbor will be designed to accommodate up to 112 vessels. The initial area of the harbor project will cost 12 billion yuan and is expected to be operational within three to five years, with 40 million tons of cargo being handled each year.

The city government has established a special team to coordinate the construction work, while Qingdao Port Investment Construction Group was founded to be in charge of the physical development of the project.

So far, a number of large companies have participated in the harbor project, including Qingdao Port Group, Luneng Group, Sinopec, Datang Power and Hongkong MTL Corporation. Several financial institutions have provided credit totaling 30 billion yuan.

At the same time infrastructure construction is gaining pace. Roads, a water, electricity and gas supply network, a sewage treatment plant, seawalls, waterways, and facilities for radar navigation and port inspection are being built.

A 10 km road, the Shugang Expressway, linking Qingdao to Lianyungang, was completed in just 80 days, and a work on a shipping hub in neighboring Jiangsu province, has now started.

(China Daily 03/09/2010 page24)