SHANGHAI, Mar. 24 - The container throughput of Shanghai’s seaport is expected to see stable growth of about 10 percent a year until 2010, said a port administration official at the China Ports Future Forum in Shanghai on Friday.

This projected growth is attributed to the booming economy in the Yangtze River Delta and preparations for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo said the director-general of the municipal port administration, Xu Peixin.

According to Xu, “high value-added port services will be the key focus, supported by the government’s investment and financial policies” for future development of the port.

According to statistics published by China Daily, container throughput at the port rose to 560 million tons last year, up 4.2 percent from 2006. Last year Shanghai’s cargo shipments increased by 26.15 million TEUs, moving it passed Hong Kong as the world’s second-largest container seaport after Singapore.

Xu said forward-looking policy measures for the port will include a more diversified investment strategy to enhance its competitive edge.

SHANGHAI, Mar. 17 - Foreign trade in East China’s Shanghai port rose 20.3 percent year-on-year to US$91.06 billion in the first two months of 2008, according to Customs statistics.

The figure accounted for 24.9 percent of the country’s total trade value of US$365.93 billion from January to February.

Exports climbed 17.2 percent, 20.7 percentage points lower than the period from a year earlier, to US$58.59 billion. Mechanical and electronics products accounted for around 60 percent of total exports.

Imports jumped 26.3 percent to US$32.47 billion,10.8 percentage points higher from the same period last year Shanghai Customs said. (more…)

SHANGHAI, Feb. 26 - The National Development and Reform Commission approved a plan to build a high-speed rail passenger rail link between Shanghai and Nanjing.

The US$5.52 billion line will take four years to complete and shorten travel time on the 300 kilometer route from two hours to 72 minutes Xinhua reported. Once completed, trains will run 24 hours a day at intervals of three minutes during peak hours. (more…)

Chinese New Year passenger travel discouraged in favor of energy supplies – more heavy snowfalls forecast 

February 4th  - China continues to have problems with its worst winter weather for 50 years as further heavy snow hit already stressed cities and towns in much of the country. With the military already deployed and tanks on the roads in some areas to assist with snow and debris clearance, power shortages threaten anew as raw materials such as coal and coke have been delayed in getting to power plants. Rail rolling stock has been diverted away from the normal passenger transit duties as this time of year, with Chinese New Year’s eve just 36 hours away, in order to allow reasonable chances of the power supply being maintained. Up to 60% of all passengers are now expected to stay put rather than travel back to their homes, effectively missing Chinese New Year celebrations with their families. A record number of over 42,000 rail container trucks laden with coal and coke were transported just today (Monday) alone to ensure national power supplies could be maintained – over 25% more than the norm at this time of year. Both army and civilian maintenance crews were also working around the clock to repair broken or damaged power lines in Guangdong, Guizhou and Henan Provinces, where millions of people have been without power for over a week.

Several energy intensive metal producing plants have also been ordered to shut down to conserve fuel, with the aluminum and steel industries worst hit, a situation reflected in the world’s trading bourse, the London Metal Exchange, where futures contracts have shown sharp increases in value and the daily trading rate have shot up by more than 10% in the past few days for these commodities as shortages loom. The supply chain knock-on effect has also led to several auto manufacturers in China to either close or reduce capacity as sheet metals are not reaching their production lines. Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Ford and Mazda have all closed some or all of their plants.   (more…)

By Andy Scott

SHANGHAI, Jan. 29 - The biggest winter storm to hit many parts of eastern China in 50 years brought down buildings, closed train stations and left millions stranded throughout the country just days ahead of the biggest holiday season.

One day after the storm killed at least a dozen people and brought much of central and eastern China to a halt; it continues to wreak havoc on the country’s road, rail and airport networks. Most flights out of Hongqiao Airport were delayed or canceled for a second straight day, while traffic slowly returned to the region’s rail and roadways. Trains out of Shanghai continued to see major delays of up to 10 hours today and travelers found themselves having to make the best of a bad situation, often transferring tickets and taking round-about routes to reach destinations in the Yangtze River Delta. (more…)

SHANGHAI, Jan 24 - Shanghai’s Urban Transportation Administration Bureau has announced that any representative office established in Shanghai before January 7, 2007 has until February 5, 2007 to apply for a vehicle license plate free of charge.

In the past, every representative office in Shanghai was entitled to one vehicle license plate. However, early this year, the Shanghai government changed that policy and it was determined that any representative office established after January 7 would have to pay to obtain a vehicle license.

The administration built in the one-month grace period so that representative offices established before January 7 could still apply for a vehicle license plate without paying the license plate fee.

Shanghai limits the number of cars in the city by limiting the number of license plates it issues every year. In order to obtain a license plate, vehicle owners must buy them at auction, with plates usually selling for around RMB23,000.

SHANGHAI, Dec. 11 - Chongming Island, China’s third-largest island and designated for ecotourism development, looks likely to become the site of a new Disneyland after 2010.

The island, situated north of Shanghai, will likely get a Disney theme park following the 2010 World Expo a government spokesman for the island said yesterday.

“We have made plenty of efforts to have a Disney theme park. No decision has been made so far. We will make announcements when we know the result. A Disney theme park will probably be built in Shanghai after the World Expo,” the spokesman said.

As the project is a significant one, it will need approval from Beijing before it can proceed. However, links to the island are scheduled to improve once a bridge and tunnel linking Chongming to the Shanghai are completed in time for the World Expo and Beijing will likely move ahead with the project. (more…)

SHANGHAI, Nov. 27 - Express shipping and logistics giant, DHL has signed a deal to invest US$175 million on a North Asia hub to be located at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The move aims to increase the company’s Asia Pacific scope and cement its market leadership in China.

This is the second cargo brand to invest in the airport, after UPS announced plans to build its own 96,000 square meter hub by next year, making it the first in the world to be equipped with two international cargo hubs.

Daniel McHugh, chief executive officer of DHL Express Asia Pacific, told Cargonews Asia that the announcement, “underlines DHL’s strong commitment and confidence in the Shanghai government’s vision of establishing the city as a world economic center, as well as the Shanghai Airport Group’s objective of building Pudong International Airport as the international air hub of choice.”

“Our task as a global logistic provider is to network the world. We are confident that the new hub will give us an even greater competitive edge in managing the huge and complex global trade that is being routed to this region,” he added.

The North Asia hub is scheduled to be operational by the second half of 2010 and will be located nearby the airport’s soon-to-be-completed third runway. It will join the ranks of the company’s five other hubs serving the region: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Incheon, Singapore and Sydney. (more…)

SHANGHAI, Oct. 10 - The central government has given the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway the green light according to a notice posted on the National Development and Reform Commission’s website Tuesday.

With a speed of up to 350 kilometers per hour, the high-speed train would shorten rail travel times between Beijing and Shanghai from the current 10 hours to less than five.

The project, which has been on the drawing board for more than a decade with work expected to begin last year, was to be operational by 2010 before construction was postponed. The cost of the project, with initial estimates ranging from RMB130 billion to RMB170 billion, could exceed RMB200 billion due to rising real estate prices and the cost of resettling people who live along the proposed path.

The 1,318 kilometer rail project has attracted the attention of France’s Alstom, Canada’s Bombardier, Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Germany’s Siemens, all vying to provide technology. It’s expected that high-speed wheel technology, like that used in Europe, Korea and Japan, will be employed over more the costly magnetic levitation that currently is only used on a tester extension in Shanghai. (more…)

By Cathy Gao/Dezan Shira & Associates

SHANGHAI, Sept. 26 - Currently in China, labor contracts are regulated by the Labor law of the PRC and over 25 separate employment contract regulations by individual provinces and cities. These current regulations and rules are now being challenged by the recently passed Contract Labor, set to take effect January 1, 2008. Here we look at the differences between the labor regulations already on the books in Shanghai and the new law.

Written contract
Under Shanghai’s rules, all individual employment contracts must be concluded by written contract for each employee. The Contract Labor law strengthens this position by entitling employees who are not given a written contract within the legal term limit double wages per month to an open-term contract.

Less flexibility for the employer
Compared to Shanghai’s rules, the national law shortens the maximum allowable probation period for new employees, reducing flexibility for employers during the probationary period. However, during this period, employers have more flexibility in terminating their relationship with the employee. (more…)