Operator takes share of Suzhou port

Hong Kong port operator Modern Terminals signed an agreement with the Suzhou municipal government to invest RMB 1 billion in a container terminal in a move that will double the city's annual container throughput capacity to two million teu (20- foot-equivalent units).

Modern Terminals, controlled by Wharf (Holdings), said it received approval from the Jiangsu provincial government to buy a 70 percent stake in the second phase of Taicang port.

The controlling foreign stake may reflect Beijing's more relaxed attitude towards foreign investment in what was once regarded as a strategically important sector.