bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agreement represents breakthrough in cross-strait infrastructure investment

Evergreen Marine has sealed the first  mainland port investment by a Taiwanese company, agreeing to take a 50 per cent stake in a US$250 million, two-berth container port project in Ningbo.

The  agreement with  Ningbo Port Group represents  a breakthrough in cross-strait infrastructure and communications investment, which has long been held hostage to lingering tensions between  the mainland and Taiwan.

Direct shipping links across the Taiwan Strait remain banned.

'We signed the contract [with Evergreen] in Hong Kong on Monday,' Ningbo Port president Li Linghong told the South China Morning Post. 'The construction of the project [Beilun Phase IV] has received approval from the central government and will be completed in June.'

Mr Li is part of a Zhejiang province investment delegation   visiting Hong Kong.

Owing to the sensitivity of Taiwanese  involvement in mainland infrastructure projects, Evergreen's investment is being routed through its Italian shipping line, Lloyd Triestino. According to Mr Li, the agreement was signed by representatives of Lloyd Triestino's Hong Kong office.

Calls to Lloyd Triestino's Hong Kong management team were not returned yesterday. A  spokeswoman at Evergreen headquarters in Taipei declined to comment. It is not clear if Evergreen needs to secure Taiwan government approval for the investment.

Evergreen's investment is one of three contracts Ningbo officials expect to  seal in Hong Kong this week. Container shipping line Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (OOIL), controlled by the family of  Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, and Hutchison Whampoa are also expected to sign agreements in Hong Kong today.

OOIL will acquire 20 per cent  of a five-berth project on the shoreline of Chuangshan with an investment  of US$650 million. Ningbo Port and several other  investors  will hold the rest.

The project, known as Beilun Phase V, has yet to be approved by the central government.

Meanwhile, Hutchison will develop a 440-metre  stretch of  shoreline,  now used as a coal berth, into a container-handling facility. It will own 49 per cent of the US$150 million project and Ningbo Port will hold the remainder.

'It will be an extension of Hutchison's existing facility,' Mr Li said.

Hutchison was the first private investor  to  gain a foothold in Ningbo. It operates three  berths along a 900-metre shoreline.

The rapid development of Ningbo port, a natural deepwater facility in the Yangtze River Delta, has stirred concern over regional competition as Shanghai municipal authorities  build the massive US$18 billion Yangshan Port project in neighbouring Zhoushan.

Credit Suisse First Boston chief regional economist Tao Dong warned last month  of overcapacity in the port sector in a few years.

Mr Li  shrugged off the notion of oversupply, saying Ningbo and Shanghai catered for different catchment areas.



Evergreen takes 50pc of Ningbo port project