Shanghai mulls opening futures market to qualified foreign investors

PostTime:2009-05-14 07:49:05 View:446

SHANGHAI will consider allowing qualified foreign investors to enter its futures markets and will take other steps to liberalise and diversify its financial markets as part of a plan to have the city become a global financial and shipping hub by 2020.The People's Daily reported in March that Shanghai cargo throughput rose 3.6 per cent last year to 582 million tonnes, making it the world's busiest port for the fourth consecutive year.Shanghai ranks second for container throughput to Singapore, though would surpass the Lion city if the double counting of transshipment boxes were subtracted from the accounting process.The Shanghai city government said it would consider the existing qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) system for its futures markets and would support the launch of additional products on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Reuters reported.QFII will also be allowed to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange while supporting the issuance of CNY bonds by foreign banks incorporated in China, it said."Shanghai needs to serve the whole country in order to become a global centre," Shanghai Communist Party chief Yu Zhengsheng told reporters.The measures also include tax incentives, an infrastructure upgrade and inauguration of the country's first arbitration court to decide private international trading disputes. The measures will be in line with the Shanghai government's stated ambition to attract more shipping from around the world to its Yangshan container port, reported Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.The tax adjustments could help attract more shipping firms and other companies that move cargo by land transport to use Shanghai's ports, said the report, while the arbitration court would be a required feature for a shipping hub.

Shanghai April throughput down 20%

PostTime:2009-05-11 07:56:39 View:452

Container traffic through Shanghai Port dipped alarmingly in April after it appeared to be recovering, new figures reveal, reported TradeWinds.However, analysts believe throughput will recover over the course of the year as US consumer demand picks up.Shanghai handled two million TEUs in April, down 20 percent year-on-year.The sharp decline in throughput comes after the port began experiencing less severe drops in freight traffic, particularly in March when throughput was down just seven compared with last year.The hike in shipping rates at the start of April was the main reason behind the less severe March, as shippers attempted to get goods through the port early to avoid the new higher rates.The hike also explains the sharp dip in freight traffic in April.But a far smaller decline in throughput is expected for the remainder of the year.

Shanghai district merger a bonus for shipping

PostTime:2009-05-11 07:53:59 View:592

China's State Council, the cabinet, has approved the merger of the Shanghai Pudong New District with the neighboring Nanhui district, with major implications port-wise, designed to expedite Shanghai’s bid to be a genuine international maritime centre by 2020.The expanded Pudong New district will spread 1,210.41 square kilometers with 2.686 million registered residents, said Chen Qiwei, a spokesman for the municipal government.The merging of Nanhui District with Pudong New Area will help accelerate Shanghai's development in shipping, business and manufacturing.The Yangshan Deep-water Port and the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone will both come under one government entity.Logistics and shipping companies registered in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone are expected to have more access to land in Nanhui District."This will make easier for city residents to go to work in the New City and an increasing number of companies will be willing to set up offices in the district," Yang Zhouyi, Secretary-General of the Development and Reform Research Institute for Pudong, told local media. "We will be able to lure more higher-end service providers and big shipping groups to be located in Lingang New City and this will do more benefit than raising the throughput of containers at the ports of Shanghai."The free trade zone in Waigaoqiao is almost filled so the city government needs to speed up the development of Lingang New City. "That is how we think the merging of Nanhui and Pudong New Area came into being and efforts from the government of the Pudong district alone is not enough," Yang said.The transport of cargo through inland waterways instead of highways will also be facilitated now that the two districts are merged.

Port of Shanghai container throughput down 20% to 2m TEU in April

PostTime:2009-05-07 08:19:47 View:716

Container throughput of China's ports dropped deeply in April 2009, contrary to the moderate decline in March.Port of Shanghai handled 2m teu in April, down 20% from a year earlier, far higher than the 7%-decrease in the previous month, while Shenzhen, another main container port in China, would have likely seen a deeper plunge, Citigroup said in a report.Citigroup maintains its prediction that the container throughput of China's ports in 2009 will drop 10% year on year.

Xian-Frankfurt all-cargo flight service launched

PostTime:2009-04-30 07:53:08 View:523

SHANGHAI Airlines Cargo International has launched a scheduled all-cargo service from northwest China city Xian's Xianyang International Airport to Frankfurt.This is the city's first all-cargo flight service to Europe, according to Xinhua's report. The new service offers weekly service using MD-11 freighter, which can carry 80 tonnes. It is expected to add 5,000 tonnes to Xianyang International Airport's capacity.Shanghai Airlines Cargo International is said to consider increasing the service's frequency later when market conditions are ready.

Shanghai's exports fall more slowly in March

PostTime:2009-04-15 08:00:27 View:444

Buoyed by increased tax rebates for labor-intensive industries, Shanghai's exports declined by a slower pace last month, compared to the first two months this year.Exports declined 16.4 percent last month to US$24.95 billion from a year earlier, a slower drop from a 25-percent fall in the first two months of this year, Shanghai Customs said yesterday.China has raised export tax rebates six times since August to ease the pressure on struggling manufacturers who face collapsing external demand for their goods amid the global economic slowdown.Last month, exports of clothes gained 15.7 percent, shoes were up 13.4 percent and bags rose 2.3 percent from February when they declined."China has competitive edges in labor-intensive industries and the demand is comparatively stable as some customers may turn to Chinese-made lower-priced products during the global financial crisis," said Xue Jun, an analyst at Changjiang Securities Co.In the first quarter of this year, nine traditional labor-intensive sectors exported a total of US$18.11 billion of products, a drop of 12.3 percent from a year earlier. The fall was 8.9 percentage points lower than the average of export volumes in the city.Last month, imports tumbled 24.9 percent from a year earlier to US$13.97 billion, compared with a 33-percent decline in the first two months, according to the Shanghai Customs.Shanghai's exports to emerging markets rebounded last month, and exports to its three largest markets - the European Union, the United States and Japan - declined by a slower pace. In the first three months, the exports fell 21.9 percent to US$68.92 billion and their value dropped 30.1 percent to US$35.67 billion.China's foreign trade improved slightly in March, with exports falling 17.1 percent from a year earlier to US$90.3 billion, less severe than February's 25.7-percent plunge, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Shanghai starts building international shipping service centre

PostTime:2009-04-15 07:48:16 View:796

THE 550,000-square metre Shanghai International Shipping Service Centre is being built on the north bank of the Huangpu River, reports Xinhua.The centre to be completed by 2012 and jointly-invested by Shanghai International Port Group and Sinochem Corporation with each holding a 50 per cent stake.The centre will link international passenger facilities soon to be completed in Shanghai port, and then connect the north bank service area, which also calls for the construction of a two million-square metre upscale office complex.

Shanghai International Port (Group) Co postpones Belgian port acquisition

PostTime:2009-04-14 07:55:26 View:554

Shanghai International Port (Group) Co has postponed its stake purchase in a Belgium terminal from A.P. Moeller-Maersk Group and expects slower container throughput growth this year as a slowdown hits global trade, a company executive told Reuters on Monday.Shanghai port, China's biggest port operator, signed a framework agreement in September 2006 to buy 40 percent of a container terminal in Zeebrugge, which was built by APM Terminals, part of A.P. Moeller-Maersk. It marked SIPG's first overseas foray, having snaffled many stakes in its hinterland along the Yangtze river."We have decided to put the project on hold as the outlook in global container traffic is very different from two years ago," Jiang Haitao, the company's board secretary, told Reuters."But we have not shelved the project."Jiang clarified a report by the China Securities Journal which said the Chinese port operator had completed the stake purchase in 2006 but was only delaying cooperation in running the terminal."It's not accurate. If we had bought the stake, we should have been jointly running the Belgium port already," he said.Container throughput at Shanghai port is expected to grow to 29m teuin 2009, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier, slowing from a 7 percent increase in 2008, Jiang added.Last year, the port's net profit jumped 26.9 percent to 4.62 billion yuan ($676 million) on a 13.8 percent rise in revenue.

Shanghai Int'l Port aims at higher container throughput in 2009

PostTime:2009-04-14 07:52:46 View:512

Shanghai International Port (Group) expects its container handling volume to reach 29 million TEUs this year, according to Chen Xuyuan, president of the Shanghai-based port operator.Shanghai International Port's container throughput reached 28 million TEUs last year, representing a year-on-year increase of 7%. Its operating revenue and net profit rose to RMB 18.53 billion and RMB 4.62 billion in 2008, up 13.8% and 26.9% from a year ago respectively.The president noted the company's key mission of this year is to integrate its resources and step up efforts in the coordinated operation at major ports in the Yangtze River region.The company also decided to postpone its plan to buy 40% stake of a container terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium from A.P. Moeller-Maersk Group.

Shanghai 'no threat to Hong Kong port'

PostTime:2009-03-31 07:50:52 View:704

Hong Kong has nothing to fear from Shanghai's development into an international shipping centre, as the former has a unique advantage in professional services for the industry, according to Hong Kong's transport minister.Eva Cheng said the ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai served different hinterlands and there was synergy between the two cities' maritime industries, the South China Morning Post reported.The secretary for transport and housing said Hong Kong's professional services to the maritime industry could help upgrade Shanghai's shipping industry to meet international standards.The State Council announced last week that Shanghai should strive to become an international financial centre and international shipping centre, in line with the country's economic power and the growing importance of its currency, by 2020."An international maritime centre is more than a port handling cargo-carrying containers. Hong Kong has a well-developed cluster of professional services for maritime industry, such as legal services, insurance, financing and registration of vessels," Cheng said.Hong Kong's port handled 24.4 million TEUs last year, compared with container throughput of 28 million TEUs in Shanghai.She said there were more than 900 firms in Hong Kong that specialised in providing professional services for the maritime industry."Shanghai is still in the initial stage of developing professional services for maritime industry and would like to draw on the expertise of providers of such services in Hong Kong," the minister said.She admitted Hong Kong's maritime industry faced the problem of high operating costs, although the city excelled in efficient and value-added service.Cheng said the feasibility study for the planned development of Container Terminal 10 in Tsing Yi was expected to be completed in two years, and building the terminal would take another six or seven years.

LR opens $8m surveyor training facility in Shanghai

PostTime:2009-03-27 07:56:01 View:602

Lloyd's Register Asia today opened its first dedicated marine surveyor training centre in Shanghai.The Maritime Surveyor Training Institute (MSTI) represents more than an US$8 million investment for the organisation in the first five years of operations, during which time 200 newly trained surveyors are expected to graduate from the program."Quality staff training provides the most significant contribution to the continued development of our core product -- the provision of independent technical assurance to the maritime industry," said Roy Ellams, Lloyd's Register Asia's Marine Training Manager – North Asia. "It ensures that we always will have the right skills to support the provision of maritime transport services that are safe for both mariners and the environment."Ellams says the MSTI represents a new approach to the development of technical competency for the industry, offered at a time when commercial pressures are driving the need for innovation. With the recession shrinking access to new capital for companies in the maritime industry, he says new solutions are required for old problems."Innovation doesn't just happen, it has to be stimulated and encouraged," Ellams says. "The development of technical competencies is a key ingredient in that mix. It at once fulfils our responsibility to our staff, our clients and the greater public."A key element in that new approach is the appointment of experienced "surveyor-mentors" who will guide the trainees through the one-year program. Each program will feature 20 trainees and two programs will be held each year.

Shanghai to be international financial and shipping centre by 2020

PostTime:2009-03-27 07:54:35 View:653

China's State Council yesterday gave the green signal to speed up the process of turning Shanghai into a major international financial and shipping center by 2020, write China Daily and Xinhua."Accelerating Shanghai's development in modern services, manufacturing, finance and shipping would be of great advantage for the Yangtze River Delta and the whole nation at large," the council said at an executive meeting.It urged Shanghai to be developed into a multi-functional financial center by 2020 to keep up with "China's economic influence and the yuan's international position." To achieve the target, Shanghai would be required to open up more financial sectors and improve services.Shanghai can now expect strong growth momentum after the city's industrial output dropped by as much as 12.7% year-on-year in the first two months of the year due to dwindling exports.Shanghai's GDP growth dropped to 9.7% year-on-year in 2008, the first time it fell below 10% since 1992.