The construction of China?s coastal harbors has been focused on the transportation of coal, containers, iron ore and grain and roll-on-roll-off ships, as well as deep-water access to the sea. China has especially strengthened the construction of the container transport system. Work in this regard has been concentrated on the construction of a group of deep-water container wharves at Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen and Shenzhen, laying the basis for the shaping of China?s container hubs. The construction of the coal transport system has been further strengthened. A number of coal transport wharves have been constructed. In addition, wharves for importing crude oil and iron ore have been reconstructed or expanded. By the end of 2000, the coastal harbors had more than 2,400 berths at or above the medium-size level, including over 640 deep-water berths, with a total handling capacity of 988 million tons. The specialized container berths have a handling capacity of 12 million standard containers.
