Yantai bonded port area has become a powerful engine for the development of Yantai’s marine economy, according to Yu Deping, deputy director of the management committee of the port area.

Statistics show that Yantai bonded port area achieved total import and export trade volume of $20.2 billion last year, an increase of 48.4 percent over the year 2009.

Integrated with the former import and export processing zones and several small ports, the bonded port area is designed to cover an area of 7.26 square kilometers where processing and logistics will be performed.

The bonded port area aims at establishing centers of economic trade, shipping and high-tech industries and boosting various positive policies to propel the sea area’s economic development.

To accelerate the aquaculture development, a 270 million yuan cold chain logistics park was under construction and is expected to be completed and open by end of 2012. With a storage capacity of 150,000 tons, the logistics park is able to handle 800,000 tons of products every year.

The first stage–an international commodity exhibition center--will soon be completed. The center will set special areas for exhibiting wine, imported food, aquatic products and cosmetics.

In terms of infrastructure, the container operation area has been expanded to 1.2 million square meters from the original 450,000 square meters. The annual container throughput is expected to reach five million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) by the end of this year.

Yantai bonded area also makes efforts on cultivating international shipping lines with the help of special policies for the bonded port area.

Cargo throughput hits 74.07 million tons during the first five months, a year-on-year increase of 17.5 percent. Meanwhile, container throughput reaches 656,000 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 22.6 percent.

To enhance international trade, Yantai bonded area plans to spend 20 billion yuan building a 33-square-kilometer area, focusing on developing financial insurance, freight forward, customs clearance and inspection process, informational consultation, high-end real estate, tourism and catering.