The local government said that the three parties entered into a framework agreement in Dalian recently. A number of high-ranking officials from the city government, including Dalian Mayor Xia Deren, as well as IMC Group President Cao Wenjin and Dalian Port Group Chairman Yuan Fuxiu were present at the contract signing ceremony in the local Shangri-La Hotel.

According to the agreement, the three parties will co-construct, develop and run the public port area of Changxing Island. They will also develop timber, steel and food processing industries behind the port area.

Capitalizing on the deep-sea coastline, rich port resources and abundant development space of the island, they expect to build the harbor industrial zone into a key timber processing base, an assembling and trans-shipping base for heavy steel and large-scale equipment, food storage and deep processing and trans-shipping base, as well as a trans-shipping base for containers from home and abroad.

There can thus be interaction between the public port area and the logistics and processing section of the port, providing a powerful momentum to the economy of the island.

At present, the investment ratio of the three parties is 4:4:2, that is, the Dalian Port Group 40 percent, IMC 40 percent, and Changxing Island Harbor Industrial Zone 20 percent.

In addition, IMC is planning to invest US$700 million in four projects in ship manufacturing, repairing, maintenance and adaptation, as well as a marine project.

Meanwhile, IMC will train and supply talents on port management and logistics for Changxing Island.

The coalition will no doubt speed up the construction of the port and related infrastructure, and play a pivotal role in spurring the development of port-related industries and other industry chains, the local authorities said.

IMC profile

The IMC Pan Asia Alliance Group, headquartered in Singapore, enjoys a fine reputation for its marine transportation business. It ranks among the top 10 organizations in the global chemical transportation market and is comprised of companies with diverse interests worldwide.

Strategic business interests core to the group are shipping, logistics, engineering, industrial investments, real estate and financial investments throughout Asia-Pacific with more than 5,000 employees in approximately 20 locations across the world.

(China Daily 03/08/2007 page17)