HONG KONG will remain among the busiest ports in the world after 1997, according to Zhou Nan, director of Xinhua (the New China News Agency) in Hong Kong.
At a Hong Kong Shipowners' Association lunch yesterday, Mr Zhou dismissed concerns that the territory's role might be eclipsed by rapidly emerging ports on the China coast.
He said the rise of China's shipping industry was inevitable, and its new ports might divert a part of Hong Kong's commercial traffic.
But Hong Kong had unique advantages - its superior location, closely linked shipping, finance and trade sectors and its world-renown port-service efficiency.
'As an international shipping hub, Hong Kong cannot be overtaken by coastal cities on the mainland or by other ports in Asia,' he said Hong Kong is one of the three major ports of the world, with modern facilities and management and has maintained its position as the world's largest container port.
Mr Zhou said he was confident the emerging competition would provide further impetus for Hong Kong's shipping industry to improve and modernise.
