CHINA's Ministry of Communications has laid out ambitious goals in its 11th Five-Year Plan that seeks to raise the handling capacity of the nation's ports by a massive 80 per cent by the end of the decade.

Port development works will begin this year by focusing on upgrading terminals that are dedicated to the trade in containers, coal, oil and iron ore.

The ambitious plan entails Shanghai evolving into an international shipping centre at an even faster rate than previously, while large container terminals in Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xiamen, Shenzhen and Guangzhou will be developed.

In addition, 38 berths of over 10,000 tons will be constructed at Jiangsu ports this year to boost the port's handling capacity by 77 million tons. In 2005, investment on port development projects nationwide amounted to a staggering CNY131.3 billion (US$16.31 billion), and as a result, the total handling capacity of China's ports rose by 190 million tons. Last year, 10 of the nation's ports handled more than 100 million tons of cargo each in 2005.

Shanghai alone saw 443 million tons of cargo pass through its port last year, the city was also third worldwide in terms of container throughput which reached 18 million TEU in 2005, followed by Shenzhen with 16.18 million TEU, Xinhua reported.