Tianjin is a big port with big ambitions. So big, that its plans, if realised, will make it one of the largest ports in the world.

“Tianjin is an artificial port and plays a crucial role in China’s shipping industry due to its proximity to Beijing," explains Lee Perkins, chief executive of China Intelligence Online in the China Logistics Development Report 2010.

"In recent years the government has worked hard to promote the region with aggressive spending on infrastructure in an attempt to draw investment from the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas with Tianjin Port and the nearby Binhai Free Trade Zone at the heart of the strategy."

The plan is for Tianjin to be an international shipping centre by 2015, according to the city’s Mayor Huang Xingguo.

“In the coming five years, Tianjin will fully exploit its advantages to become a leading international shipping and logistics centre in North China,” Mr Huang said in a work report to the Tianjin Municipal People’s Congress.

One detail is highly significant: doubling container handling within that timeframe to become one of the world’s top five container ports. “The plan is to increase the port's annual container throughput to 20m teu by 2015,” Yu Rumin, chairman and senior engineer of Tianjin Port Group, told the Municipal People’s Congress recently.

The port handled 10.7m teu last year, making it number 11 in world rankings. Doubling that throughput will put it into the top five, maybe even the top slot.

Not that containers are the only thing set to grow. Located as it is on Bohai Bay, Tianjin can serve more than the capital, Beijing. Indeed, it has its sights on China’s heavy industry belt in the North of the country, building on its pre-eminence in oil, coal and iron ore facilities.

There is also the joint-venture with a Hong Kong company in Tianjin Port Yuanhang International Ore Terminal - set up to establish, manage, and operate Tianjin Port’s 300,000 tonne specialised iron ore berth. Annual throughput capacity is put at 23m tonnes and it will be able to handle the loading and unloading operations of 300,000 tonne iron ore carriers once completed, according to the China Logistics Development Report.

This is backed up by oil throughput with a 300,000-tonne crude oil terminal (Nanjiang Port Area No. 30), part of a $1.3bn project involving China PetroChemical Co. and Tianjin Port Group.

Tianjin’s rapid growth in oil imports continued through 2009 and into 2010, underlining its importance. Imports for January 2010 amounted to 1.18m tonnes, more than 1.4 times the amount registered the previous January.

And then this is the Shenhua Coal Terminal. “Total coal output by Shenhua Group is likely to reach 200m tonnes annually, of which 80% is to be transported through ports. Annual growth is expected to reach 13m tonnes on average, served by Tianjin Port,” said the China Logistics Development Report.

What makes Tianjin so strong a contender for a spot on the podium is not just government support - helpful though it is - or indeed private sector investment, but instead a massive investment in the port and related infrastructure.

 “Tianjin is currently in the process of realising a CNY27.3 bn ($3.4bn) investment in 30 major ongoing construction projects including completion of a 200,000 dwt vessel lane raising the status of the port to the 200,000 dwt level and speeding up development of the southern Port Region's deep water berths,” said Mr Perkins in the report. “At present, construction and improvements are being carried out at six terminals.

“In addition to this, supporting infrastructure, including the new high-speed rail link, linking the city with the capital at a breakneck 350 km/h have all added to the attractiveness of the region from a investor’s perspective boding well for future port throughput development,” he adds.

This has added to the attraction of Tianjin as a place to do business both now and in the future. One company which has gained from this is APM Terminals who jointly operates/owns two container terminals in Tianjin; Tianjin Port Alliance International Container Terminal and Tianjin Port Euroasia International Container Terminal.

“From a freight transport perspective, we very much welcome the impressive investments in high speed rail,” says Martin Gaard Christiansen, APM Terminals chief executive for the Asia Pacific Region. “The new rail tracks have freed up much needed capacity for cargo transport allowing for further efficiency enhancements in the Chinese intermodal transport sector.

"More capacity and higher reliability in the rail system gives growth opportunities for areas that previously were out of reach of international trade lanes, such as some inland provinces. This will add to the growth prospects for our industry.” And indeed for Tianjin port.