THE New China Hong Kong (NCHK) Group yesterday signed an agreement with the Hainan Provincial Transportation Department to develop Hainan's Dongshui port.

Under the agreement, NCHK will have a 65 per cent stake in the 18.5 billion yuan (about HK$24 million) project, 26 kilometres east of the capital of Haikou. The rest will be taken up by mainland investors.

The port will be a multi-functional comprehensive international port, with berths capable of taking ships of up to 35,000 tonnes with an annual capacity of six million tonnes.