Now in place is a new strategy to turn Shanghai’s Yangshan Port into a global shipping center by 2020 instead of a regional center catering to North and East Asia traffic as previously planned.
According to Liu Tienan, vice-minister of the State Development and Reform Commission the future Shanghai International Shipping Hub will feature accumulated shipping resources, a healthy service function, sound market environment, efficient supply chains, and the capability to arrange and relocate global shipping resources.
Analysts were sceptical whether Shanghai could achieve this goal and become a major center like Singapore.
The highlight of the strategy, released this month by the State Council, is the setting up of a comprehensive experimental zone for international shipping in the Yangshan Bonded Zone to pioneer the port’s growth into a global shipping center.
Shipping enterprises that set up operations in the Yangshan Bonded Zone will be exempt from business tax. Tax exemptions will also be offered to warehouse operators and logistics businesses as well as insurers engaged in international shipping business.
The State Council also requires that Yangshan continue expanding its facilities.
Deepening of river channels will continue, and direct rail and river access will be developed to facilitate transhipment. The transport of containers down the Yangtze River and from coastal areas to Yangshan berths will be encouraged while the railway, which currently plays a very small role in transhipment, will be built up to link it directly with berths at Yangshan. Currently, ships sailing downstream along the Yangtze River cannot reach Yangshan yet and there is no rail link to the port.
CargoNews Asia reports the Shanghai Futures Exchange and the Shanghai Shipping Exchange will also introduce derivative products linked to shipping rate indices to create a better environment for risk control.
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