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Hong Kong port operators should figure out how to cut costs to maintain their leading status among counterparts in the region, a top mainland official advised.
In the latest call for the city to rethink its role as a sea-cargo hub, Weng Mengyong, a vice-minister of communications, said that to support the massive volumes of cargo in coming years there would need to be a huge cluster of ports with a "reasonable division of labour".
He said Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou ports had their own strengths and could complement each other to serve the Pearl River Delta region.
His remarks follow those of Zhang Xiaoqiang, deputy chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, who said Hong Kong should embrace a "regional perspective" in building new terminals, and focus on developing the logistics industry.
Xinhua said container throughput for the Pearl River Delta would reach 40 million TEUs in 2010, and would approach 30 million TEUs in Hong Kong.
Weng said Hong Kong's port services, financial accounting and Customs-clearing services had a distinct superiority. But he warned operators should try to control how much they spent on transporting containers.
He also pointed out the group of harbours in the Pearl River Delta region and four other clusters in different parts of the nation had clearly defined roles in serving their surrounding areas.
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