Three shipping giants are planning to move containers via northern Tianjin city's Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area, which aims to become an international free trade zone, local authorities have revealed.

Sweden's Mediterranean Shipping Company, French Compagnie Maritime d' Affretement, and Korean Hanjin Shipping, three of the top ten, signed an agreement with Tianjin Port on Wednesday, hoping to take advantage of free economic policies granted to the mainland's largest bonded harbor area.

The 10-square-kilometer area of Tianjin Port is expected to be operational by the end of this year. It will enjoy preferential taxation and foreign exchange policies and focus on international distribution, global procurement and export processing, said Yu Rumin, president of the Tianjin Port (Group) Co. Ltd.

Tianjin Port, the largest of its kind in north China, aims to put through 270 million tons of freight traffic in 2007 as the city's Binhai New Area starts to take off. It also hopes to reach 7 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container turnover, Yu said.

The port recorded cargo throughput of 258 million tons last year, ranking sixth in the world, and container turnover reached 5.95 million TEUs.