China International Trust & Investment Corp (Citic) has been appointed as Rotterdam port's representative in China, Rotterdam mayor Abraham Peper says.
He said Citic's office, which will carry out the port's liaison work with local shippers and companies, would be opened in Beijing this week.
'It is important to have direct contact with major companies which are major shippers in this part of the world,' he said. 'Citic, which has many branches in China, is a good company for us.' Citic also has a presence in a distribution centre in Rotterdam to look after its business interests there.
Mr Peper said he would visit China Resources and Citic, both of which were active in Rotterdam, to hear about their plans and to keep them briefed about trade opportunities and developments in the city.
'We will keep them informed about the port's future development, projects which are under construction and those projects which we have started.' Last year Rotterdam handled a cargo throughput of 294.6 million tonnes, with containerised cargo totalling 4.78 million teus (20-ft equivalent units).
Rotterdam's containerised cargo to and from Hong Kong grew by 15.3 per cent and China by 45.8 per cent last year. Its cargo to and from Singapore rose 19.9 per cent.
The port reported a slight increase in cargo throughput in the first quarter of 1996. Total transshipment was 71.9 million tonnes, representing a slight increase of 0.2 per cent over the previous year.
