China and the ASEAN yesterday inked an agreement on port
development to drive up trade volume.
The China-ASEAN Port Development and Cooperation Joint
Declaration - also called the Nanning Consensus - was signed
yesterday at the conclusion of a forum held during the 4th
China-ASEAN Expo in the southwestern city.
Under the pact, the two sides drafted the China-ASEAN Shipping
Transportation Agreement which is expected to be approved at the
6th China-ASEAN Transportation Ministerial Meeting scheduled for
November 2.
They also agreed to set up a port coordination mechanism to
create a more business-friendly environment for port-related
investment.
"For funding, we can resort to the government or financial
institutions from home and abroad," Weng Mengyong, vice-minister of
communications, told a press conference.
Although many industries have been opened up under the
China-ASEAN free trade area framework, transportation has been
identified as one of the 10 key areas that both sides believe
should be given priority.
In 2002, China and the ASEAN kicked off the first of the annual
transportation ministerial meetings, which have resulted in
collaboration in maritime and rail sectors.
Last year, China-ASEAN trade volume reached $160.8 billion, of
which more than $100 billion was realized through ports.
Statistics show that by the end of last year, China had more
than 1,400 ports, handling 5.57 billion tons of cargo throughput in
2006.
(China Daily October 30, 2007)
