China and the ASEAN yesterday inked an agreement on port development to drive up trade volume.

 

The China-ASEAN Port Development and Cooperation Joint Declaration - also called the Nanning Consensus - was signed yesterday at the conclusion of a forum held during the 4th China-ASEAN Expo in the southwestern city.

 

Under the pact, the two sides drafted the China-ASEAN Shipping Transportation Agreement which is expected to be approved at the 6th China-ASEAN Transportation Ministerial Meeting scheduled for November 2.

 

They also agreed to set up a port coordination mechanism to create a more business-friendly environment for port-related investment.

 

"For funding, we can resort to the government or financial institutions from home and abroad," Weng Mengyong, vice-minister of communications, told a press conference.

 

Although many industries have been opened up under the China-ASEAN free trade area framework, transportation has been identified as one of the 10 key areas that both sides believe should be given priority.

 

In 2002, China and the ASEAN kicked off the first of the annual transportation ministerial meetings, which have resulted in collaboration in maritime and rail sectors.

 

Last year, China-ASEAN trade volume reached $160.8 billion, of which more than $100 billion was realized through ports.

 

Statistics show that by the end of last year, China had more than 1,400 ports, handling 5.57 billion tons of cargo throughput in 2006.

 

(China Daily October 30, 2007)