HAIKOU /China/, December 13. /TASS/. The total investment volume in Hainan’s Yangpu Port expansion project will be almost 10 billion yuan (about $ 1.5 billion), the Hainan International Communication Network reported.
The expansion of the Yangpu district in preparation for the new western land-sea route is an important strategic project for the infrastructure of Hainan as well as for the port itself, which is to become a major global transport hub. The project involves the construction of four new container berths with a capacity of up to 200,000 tons and one berth with a capacity of up to 150,000 tons. Their total length along the coastline will be 2,461 m. The facilities will occupy an area of 2.1 million square meters, and their throughput capacity is expected to reach 5 million TEUs (the equivalent of a standard 20-foot container).
"It is expected that construction could begin next May. Once completed, Yangpu will become one of the most important container ports in the world," the article quoted Huang Peng, Director of the Yangpu Transportation and Ocean Research Office, as saying.
Hainan authorities emphasize that the construction of Yangpu Port's infrastructure is the key to increasing both domestic and foreign freight traffic, which is a vital part of the province's free trade port project. Yangpu Port is being actively prepared to meet the requirements for future cargo traffic of about 10 million TEU annually.
China’s authorities intend to turn Yangpu Port in the northwestern part of the Hainan Island into a key distribution channel for the flow of goods from various regions of the PRC to Southeast Asia and Oceania, Europe and North America by 2035. Yangpu Port will play an important role in implementing the plan to form a new integrated maritime and land corridor, a project developed by China's National Development and Reform Commission and aimed at speeding up and improving the efficiency of regional and global trade and economic projects, as well as providing advanced customs and logistics services.
Yangpu Port's container throughput in January-November reached 1.2 million TEUs, a 36.5% increase over the same period last year, while cargo throughput rose 12.1% year on year to 12.8 million tons. To date, the port has established shipments on 38 routes, which connect various cities in China with Southeast Asian countries.