Shopping lists

Almost all the ports on the upper and middle reaches have ambitious expansion and development projects and are looking for foreign partners that can provide funding as well as technology, equipment and management skills. The host cities, mostly small and medium-sized by Chinese standards, boast vast economic hinterlands. Jiujiang, for example, with a population similar to that of Milan, is a vibrant city with a spectacular skyline. Road and railway connections are decent, and the nearest airport is an hour’s drive away in Nanchang, the provincial capital.

So far, most business opportunities have been seized by companies from Hong Kong and Taiwan. The participating ports are enthusiastic about the opportunity to meet their potential foreign partners, and have drawn up detailed project lists.

Downstream from Nanjing, the ports are in a quite different situation. All of them can accommodate 50,000dwt vessels and are relatively easy to access from Shanghai. Most are therefore cash rich and some have established Sino-foreign joint ventures, such as Taicang, Nantong and Changshu. Others, such as Zhenjiang, have major domestic investors, while the likes of Jiangyin have sought a successful stock market listing. Their interest in foreign involvement largely concentrates on strategic partners that may bring in containers (shipping lines) or cargo (coal mine owners, for example). Several are also keen to meet equipment and technology suppliers.

The Yangtze Business Network 2007 drew up a shopping list of all the participating Chinese ports and organisations that submitted requests for foreign involvement.