Nantong, the first harbor city on the northern banks of the Yangtze River (which flows directly from there to the East China Sea), plans to further tap its riverline and sealine resources to help strengthen its harbor economy and ship-building industry, said Nantong Vice-Mayor Yuan Jingbo.

The city has 200 kilometers of sealines and 164 kilometers of Yangtze riverline resources -- 30 kilometers of which are deep-water lines with 29 berths capable of handling over 10,000-tonships. Nantong Habor's annual handling capacity is 460 million tons -- second behind Nanjing Harbor, the largest inland harbor along the Yangtze River.

``With the most ports, largest handling capacity, longest riverline resources and shortest distance to Shanghai, Nantong will be the biggest beneficiary of the Jiangsu provincial government's strategy to accelerate economic development in regions along the Yangtze River which involves eight cities, including Nantong,'' said the vice-mayor.

By making good use of its local riverline advantages, Nantong, one of China's top-10 seaside ports , will strive to reorganize its riverline resources and expand the scale of its ports to serve large-sized shipping-building and large-scale river transportation businesses.

``New ports will be built while old ports are being upgraded. A total of 16 berths with a handling capacity between 50,000 to 70,000 tons will be added to the Nantong Port,'' said the vice-mayor.

He also said that building a first-class ship-building and repair base will be the city's top goal in developing its riverside industries.

A modern regional logistics center is also high on the development agenda to serve economic growth in the northern parts of the Yangtze River Delta that covers Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang. The first-phase construction will include three distribution centers for liquid-chemical, steel and oil products.

The city will also top its unique 164-kilometer-long riverline and 200-kilometer-long sealine resources to develop its power generation industry and petrochemcial industries.

``We will seek close contacts and economic cooperation with Shanghai, which will be reached within an hour's drive when the Suzhon-Nantong bridge -- the world's longest suspension bridge -- is completed,'' said the vice-mayor.

He announced that an industrial park will be opened to attract big Shanghai companies to invest in Nantong projects or conduct enterprise acquisitions.

Nantong city covers 8,001 square kilometers and has a populaton of 7.85 million. Its Gross Domestic Product reached 89 billion yuan (US$10.72 billion) last year, indicating the city has entered an era of fast economic growth.

(by Ma Zhiping)

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