Ma Yongzhi, Deputy Director General of Bureau of Communications of Shenzhen Municipality (Port Administration)
(October 24, 2007)
Respected Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,
Thanks to the kind invitation from the organization committee of PORTECH Asia 2007, I am allowed to have this chance to discuss with everyone here about the opportunities and challenges of China 's ports in economic globalization. Now, I would like to make a brief introduction on the topic of ‘Shenzhen is dedicated to build a ?Green Port ?'.
Port is the infrastructure and the transportation hub of socioeconomic development. Located in Pearl River Delta, the well developed export-oriented area, and neighboring Hong Kong , Shenzhen owns the excellent coastline resource as well as the unique natural economic geographic environment. Based on port transportation, trading and information, the modern logistic industry has become one of the four cornerstones for Shenzhen's economic development in the new age. Last year, the container throughput volume of Shenzhen Port has achieved 18.47 million TEU, and it is expected to exceed 20 million TEU this year, which will ensure Shenzhen port to be NO. 4 of the world.
Although the throughput volume is an important index to judge the strength of a port, yet it is not the only index, and it can hardly show the comprehensive competitive ability of the port and its service ability to regional economy. The port development includes three aspects: efficiency, quality and sustainability. Considering the fact of Shenzhen, the quality and sustainability of development is of vital importance. With the continuous expansion the scale of Shenzhen Port, the pressures brought along by the development of the port and related industries, such as coastline, hinterland, inland transport, environment influence, etc. are getting more and more evident. Entering the new era, it has been more clearly to us that, as a kind of non-renewable resource, port should be developed and used fully, efficiently, responsibly and sustainably, which is the eternal theme for port development. And environmental protection is internationally recognized to be a prerequisite for a real global port. Therefore, Shenzhen Municipality is taking much more concern in port environmental protection and sustainable development in the recent year, and performs the following measures concretely.
Firstly, build ‘the environment-friendly ecotypic port' in advance. To ensure the long and healthy sustainable development of Shenzhen Port, the Bureau of Communications of Shenzhen Municipality asked the Communications-Planning Academe to evaluate the environmental impact of ‘the General Plan of Shenzhen Port', which is being composed, and an environment-friendly ecotypic port can be build while maintaining a long and healthy development. Before editing, ‘the General Plan of Shenzhen Port' didn't have details for environmental evaluation. But in this editing, we consider environmental protection an important part of the General Plan, and we also held a consultation meeting with experts to discuss the outline of ‘the Report on the Evaluation of the Environmental Impact of the General Plan of Shenzhen Port', which not only showed our recognition of port environmental protection, and also put environmental protection in the first place of the plan while editing. At present, for most domestic port, they usually make the general plan before environmental evaluation. However, this time Shenzhen Port will edit the general plan and do the environmental evaluation at the same time, and amend the plan as long as it influents environment.
(October 24,2007)
