Qingdao Port is seeking a more ambitious position among its major Northeast Asian rivals as it tries to transform itself into a regional shipping centre offering premium businesses in cargo handling, logistics and related industries.

"Over the next five years Qingdao Port will add 300 million tonnes of capacity to augment throughput to 600 million tonnes and 20 million TEUs by the end of 2015," Chang Dechuan, chairman and chief executive officer of the Qingdao Port Group, told China Daily.

Located in Jiaozhou Bay on the southern tip of Shandong Peninsula, the port is the world's seventh-largest by throughput and the eighth-largest container port. In 2010, it handled a total throughput of 350 million tonnes and container throughput of 12 million TEUs.

But its management looks beyond these accomplishments, especially as a group of neighbouring rivals such as the Chinese ports of Tianjin, Yantai and Dalian, and South Korea's Busan are also quickly developing and eroding its advantage in certain sectors.

With a total area of 10.56 sq km, Qingdao Port is less than one-fourth the size of other domestic ports, undermining its efforts to become a major bulk-cargo shipping centre and regional shipping hub.

It has been overloaded for some time, handling more than the 150-million-tonne maximum capacity it was designed for. Expansion of its facilities is high on the agenda.

According to Chang, the port will invest US$4.56 billion to achieve its goal of becoming Northeast Asia's regional shipping centre.

Chang said that by 2015 Qingdao Port will comprise four port areas: The Dongjiakou area will serve as a shipping and storage centre of bulk cargo and energy; the Qianwan port will be a container shipping hub in Northeast Asia; the Huangdao port will be an oil product and chemical logistics hub; and the old port will handle grains, chemical fertiliser, steel, aluminum, equipment, cold chain shipping containers and feedstuff.
In 2010, the Port of Qingdao maintained its leading position in raw-material handling. It is the world's largest iron ore port, and China's largest import port for crude oil.