Through a joint venture, ProLogis has secured land at the Port of Dalian in northeastern China that will enable the company to develop a new industrial park – ProLogis Park Dalian Port.

The land can support more than 3.1 million sq.ft distribution space. The company has also acquired two existing warehouse facilities totalling approximately 235,000 sq.ft, which are currently 95% leased to multinational and local shippers and logistics providers.

The new ProLogis park site is located immediately adjacent to the existing Dalian container yard, as well as land that will be used to accommodate a planned two-phase expansion of the port which is taking place through 2010.

Dalian is China's eighth-largest port by container volume, and is on pace to process approximately 3.2 million containers in 2006, a 20% increase over the prior year, and container throughput is expected to triple by the year 2010.

Distribution demand is also expected to grow due to the port's status as one of three central government-sponsored free trade zones, and because of its proximity to markets in Korea and Japan.

“Port markets are a lynchpin of our overall strategy in China,” said Ming Mei, ProLogis managing director & head of China operations. “Container volume at virtually every major port in the country is growing at remarkable rates, and can be expected to do so for the foreseeable future.”

ProLogis entered the Chinese market in 2004. Over the past two years, ProLogis has established land positions at Chinese ports that can support more than 25 million sq.ft of total warehouse development, all of it in prime locations.

As at September 30, 2006, ProLogis had 4.1 million sq.ft in operation and another 3 million sq.ft under development. In addition to Dalian, the company has positions at the ports of Tianjin, Shanghai, Qingdao, Ningbo, Shenzhen and Guanghzhou.