Shanghai Daily News

Weng ShihuiNanhui District, home of the Yangshan Deep-Water Port, has embarked on an "ocean economy" to steer its development over the next five years.

Speaking at the recent Ocean Economics and Technology Development Strategy Seminar, a district official said Nanhui was working to develop its expertise in offshore oil, gas facilities management, deep-sea fishing, ship manufacturing and oceanic tourism, among others.

"We will attach great attention to the development of the oceanic industry in trying to foster and promote the development of this new industry (for Nanhui) while pushing forward the development of traditional ocean sectors," said media official Guo Genming.

According to the blueprint, the Yangshan Deep-Water Port has become a new growth point for city's economic development with its second phase put into operation earlier this week. This will expand the city's annual port capacity by another two million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

The port, located on an island at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay about 27.5 kilometers from the city's Luchaogang area, handled 17.87 million containers in the first 10 months of this year, up 19.8 percent from a year ago. It is forecast to rank first in capacity globally in future.

The port's coastline in the new second phase has been extended to 3,000 meters from 1,600 meters previously. In addition, four deep-water berths have been added.

By 2010, Yangshan Port will be able to handle 15 million TEUs annually with its coastline reaching 10 kilometers.

In addition, Lingang New City, Shanghai's latest high-technology hub, will be another force in driving Nanhui's ocean economy.

The district government is forging its effort in attracting some world-famous oceanic high-tech companies to the new town. To date, the US-based Caterpillar Logistics, Prologis Logistics, Shanghai Electric, Kalmarind and WCN Engine Shanghai have settled in the area.

Other seaside areas, including Chongming Island, Pudong New Area and Hangzhou Bay, will also be developed over the next five years, Shanghai Ocean Bureau officials said.

Shanghai's total output of ocean-related industries, including shipping manufacturing and ocean fishing, reached 281.6 billion yuan (US$36 billion) last year.

The Shanghai Ocean Bureau official said wind power plants at sea were also in the planning, in addition to an ocean ecological nature preserve to be built at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

At the same time, new ocean industries such as ocean oil and gas, coastal tourism and oceanic medicine are fast arising. However, in the past five years, the growth rate of Shanghai's ocean economy was lower than the average of the country's coastal provinces and cities, according to the bureau.

Although the local port's infrastructure and usability is the most intensive, Shanghai still plays second fiddle to other port cities in China. This is partly due to its limited sea resources, especially with the highly-developed port industry which has posed a barrier to the overall development of the local ocean economy.

In addition, the unbalance in the ocean industry structure development which poses too much concentration on traditional sectors, has created another barrier in the formation of a high-tech industry for the ocean economy, ocean-economy consulting and ocean-information services.

To conquer the difficulties, the city is continuing its work in actively carrying out adjustments in the structure of the ocean industry. These include optimizing its distribution and advocating scientific and technological progress to create rapid growth in the sector.