The Beijing-Tanggu port area and Tianjin, Dalian and Qingdao ports surround the Bohai Bay, together handling three million TEUs annually.

The area is close to Russia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK), all located in the northeastern part of Asia, an active economic center. It is also the starting point of the Eurasia Continental Bridge.

Formation of the container base is the outcome of booming foreign trade growth in north China and China's opening to the outside world. It heralds the shaping of the third economic belt in China after those in southern and eastern China, said a Chinese trade official.

The Ministry of Railways has joined hands with Tianjin Port to build two railways for shipping goods unloaded at the four ports to cities in central and western China.

Mongolia has designated Tianjin as its sea outlet to handle imports from the United States, the ROK and Japan. The volume of freight between Tianjin and Mongolia surpassed 9,000 TEUs last year.

As half of China's expressways are linked with areas around the Bohai Bay, 30-odd container transport companies have been set up to ship goods to various parts of the country.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2003)