Qingdao is the third-biggest container port in China, handling 6.3m TEUs in 2005—22.7% more than the previous year—as well as 186.7m tonnes of cargo, up 14.8%. To increase capacity, Qingdao has expanded its century-old port and built two modern port areas. It now boasts China’s largest wharves for crude oil and iron ore, with capacity of 122m tonnes annually.

The port has a US$887m JV with P&O Ports, Maersk and COSCO Pacific to develop and run its ten-berth, phase-three expansion, which was completed in 2005, raising total capacity to 6m TEUs. The three foreign operators were reported in March 2006 to have agreed to invest Rmb4bn in phase six of the port’s expansion in a JV with the Qingdao Port Group. Qingdao hopes to list its port shares either in Shanghai or in Hong Kong, though no date has been specified.

In July 2005, China Merchants Holdings won approval from the NDRC to develop and operate a US$560m port facility with a free-trade zone and logistics centre in Qingdao. It will also build seven berths with annual capacity of 2.5m TEUs and 600,000 tonnes of cargo. The first berth is expected to commence operations in 2006.