COSCO Shipping Ports (CSP), the world’s largest terminal operator, has announced that it has bought a 4.34% stake in Beibu Gulf Port, according to a statement.
CSP describes the Beibu Gulf Port as the “gateway” of the New International Land-Sea Transport Corridor (NILSTC) formerly the China-Singapore Southern Transport Corridor (STC), a deal between China and Singapore to connect China’s landlocked regions to Asia’s sea lanes.
Therefore, CSP says, the acquisition is a step towards integrating those regions into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the largest infrastructure project in world history which Beijing estimates will cost approximately US$900 billion.
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The Beibu Gulf Port enjoyed saw its total throughput increase in 2018, with a first 9-month volume spike by 13.68% year-on-year.
Consequently, it is increasing its efforts to develop more efficient intermodal transportation, with the aim of becoming a pivotal hub for the NILSTC.
Speaking about the acquisition, Zhang Wei, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of CSP, said: “The subscription of Beibu Gulf Port’s shares further deepened the cooperation between COSCO SHIPPING Ports and Beibu Gulf Port.
“We will continue to seek cooperation opportunities actively to further strengthen our terminal portfolio in Southwest China.
“At the same time, we will continue to extend our reach globally to build a global terminal network with controlling stake that offers linkage effects on costs, services and synergies to better serve our clients, enhance our synergies with the parent company and Ocean Alliance to create greater value and maximum returns to our shareholders”.