The first section of a deep-water port at Yangshan Isles, east of Hangzhou Bay, will be completed and put into trial operation late this year.

That was announced by Gu Gang, President of Tongsheng Investment (Group) Co. Ltd. of Shanghai, a major builder of the Yangshan deep-water port project, at the 24th World Port Conference being held in Shanghai.

"Our workers have overcome many difficulties and we have been carrying out the construction strictly according to the schedule since June 2002, when the project broke ground for construction," said Gu.

The completed tasks in the projected port include a 1,600-meter-long hydraulic dock, formation of a land area, reinforcement of the foundation and dredging of navigable channels.

"In accordance with the current construction speed, I am confident that the pre-set target to complete the first phase construction and to put the utilities into operation by late this year will be met," said Gu.

For the second phase construction, workers are expected to construct four berths and a 1,400-meter coastline. The infrastructure will put into operation in late 2006, according to Gu.

The Yangshan Isles comprise the Bigger Yangshan and Lesser Yangshan isles. The water in the area is 15 meters deep on average,making the area an ideal for location of a natural sea port.

The port will be able to handle 2.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containers a year when the first phase is finished late this year. On completion by the year 2020, the port will be capable of handling 20 million TEUs of containers annually.