Friday, September 4, 2015

Chinese province of Zhejiang sets up firm to run 5 seaports

The government of Zhejiang recently set up a company to run five major ports in the eastern province in an effort to boost operational efficiency, according to an inside source.

The source said the government established the Zhejiang Port Investment and Management Group Co. on August 21 to run seaports in Ningbo, Zhoushan, Jiaxing, Taizhou and Wenzhou. The merger of the companies running the ports is still underway, he added.

Zhejiang is reportedly following the model of Hebei, the northern province that put some of its ports under the management of one firm in 2009. The moves are aimed at unifying planning for the ports and making better use of their assets.

Zhejiang's governor, Li Qiang, said earlier this year that his government would push ahead with the merger of the firms running several ports, including those in Ningbo and Zhoushan. Zhejiang is working

to merge the companies running the seaports in Ningbo and Zhoushan first, the insider said.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission published the IPO prospectus of the Zhoushan port company on June 18. The firm planned to raise $96 million by issuing about 200 million shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The Zhejiang government told the Zhoushan port company that after the merger it would invest $31 billion yuan to develop the Zhoushan islands, including the port, the person close to the port firm said.

The Ningbo port company may purchase the Zhoushan firm, and the company will be added to the Zhejiang Port Investment and Management Group, according to the source.

For more of the Caixin Online story: english.caixin.com


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