Sunrise at Tianjin Port, the largest in north China, on January 12. The port handles 30 million tons of cargo in 2007, up 20.2% year-on-year.  [Xinhua]

Thanks to the rapid growth of foreign trade, Tianjin Port, the largest port in north China, has handled 30 million tons of cargo in 2007, up 20.2 percent year-on-year.

The turnover of the 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container also increased by 19.4 percent to 7.103 million in 2007.

Yu Rumin, president of the Tianjin Port (Group) Co Ltd, attributed the rapid growth to the development of the newly-established Binhai New Area, a state-level industrial zone approved in Tianjin.

"The government plans to build the Binhai New Area an international shipping center and an international logistics center in north China, which brings the Tianjin Port a perfect opportunity for development," said Yu.

The port aims at 330 million tons of freight traffic and 8.5 million TEUs of container in 2008, he said.

According to Yu, the Tianjin Port expanded its business with more shipping companies in 2007. Now it launched shipping business in more than 100 lines and has established trade ties with more than 400 ports in over 180 countries and regions in the world.

The port has also been updating its sea-lanes, which now are able to accommodate vessels with 250,000 dead-weight-tonnage.

To conform with the fast development of the Tianjin Port, the government has planned to invest 45 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) from 2007 to 2010 on the port infrastructure construction, said Yu.

By 2010, our port will be able to host vessels with 300,000 dead-weight-tonnage and it will also have more than 80 berths for vessels above 10,000 dead-weight-tonnage, said Yu.

The Binhai New Area, about 120 kilometers to the southeast of Beijing, is a national pilot reform base listed in the country's development plan for the 2006-2010 period. Upon completion, it will cover an area of 2,270 square kilometers.