The terminal is expected to be fully operational in the first half of 2000. It covers an area of 400 square metres, a fraction of the total 800,000 square metres that will be developed. The corporation is in talks with undisclosed shipping lines which, if successful, will result in the new terminal handling 6,000-TEU vessels. Fresh fruit and vegetables make up the bulk of Qingdao's throughput, Zhang said. These are shipped to and from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and other destinations in Southeast Asia.
Seafood features heavily on the import side.
The corporation is also keen to promote intermodal transportation of goods to and from Qingdao's container terminals. In the last four years a major expressway has been completed which has cut the travelling time between Qingdao's industrial centre and the new container terminal to 45 minutes. The corporation is in ongoing discussion with the Qingdao Government Transportation and Communications Ministry about the construction of either a bridge or an underpass to cut this time even further. If successful, the ministry will fund the project, something Xu and Zhang hope will get the go-ahead by the middle of next year.