Zim has signed a Joint Venture plans to invest $2 billion in the next few years to build large-scale rail container terminals in 18 selected cities over two phases in China by 2010.

Zim Integrated Shipping Service Ltd, signed the agreement with China Railway Container Transport Corp, a unit of China’s Ministry of Railway (MOR), for a joint venture named China United International Rail Container Co. Ltd.

The Joint Venture plans to invest $2 billion in the next few years to build large-scale rail container terminals in 18 selected cities over two phases in China by 2010.

The 11 cities included in the first phase are: Shanghai, Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqin, Wuhan, Xian, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Dalian, Harbin and Tianjin.
The cities in the second phase are : Zhengzhou, Lanzhou, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Urumqi, Beijing and Ningbo.

The Joint Venture will provide improved service based on the container terminals along the rail links. The type of services intended include: schedule block train services under MOR, container handling, storage, repair, customer declaration, logistics — all related to enhancing the speed of transporting goods across China.