TIANJIN Port has recently started work on two large projects - a CNY6.95 billion (US$839.72 million) man-made island port project, and the first phase of the North Port container terminal project worth CNY3.72 billion, Xinhua reported.

The man-made island port is located in the Northeast part of Tianjin Port, next to the container logistics centre, which is under construction.

Dubbed a "super-huge" project, the man-made island port when completed in 2009 will include a large container terminal, a logistics and processing park, and an area for port support facilities.

The report said Tianjin Port will reclaim 33.5 square kilometres of land by dumping an estimated 258 million cubic metres of earth into the sea.

The North Port container terminal is located in the Beijiang Port region next to the roro terminal which is being built for automobile, grain and oil cargoes.

The first-phase of the terminal project covers an area of 340 million square metres, and is designed to accommodate 6,000 TEU vessels, and when completed, it will be able to handle 2.3 million TEU annually.

As Tianjin Port expands, container throughput has been growing rapidly with statistics showing that the annual box throughput at the facility grew 20 per cent yearly between 1990 and 2003.

Xinhua said the port handled 3.81 million TEU in 2004, 26.4 per cent more than in 2003, making it the fifth largest port on the mainland.

Elsewhere in China, the government in Hebei province is to invest CNY7.91 billion in port development this year in a bid to boost cargo capacity by 48.7 million tonnes to achieve an annual throughput of 250 million tonnes.

Xinhua said the province also planned to improve port facilities by building a deep water terminal in Caofeidian Port, and by expanding the berth used for coal shipments in Qianghuangdao Port.

The report said there were also plans to modify and improve the blueprint on coastal ports development in the province between 2006 and 2010.