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The Daxie Harbor Area of Ningbo, an open coastal city in east China's Zhejiang Province, has gained the go-ahead from the State Council, the country's cabinet, to open up to the outside world.

Situated in the eastern port of Ningbo, the Daxie Harbor Area is across the sea from Shanghai, east China's largest city, and borders an international deepwater shipping lane.

Considered an unusually well-endowed natural deepwater harbor, Daxie is blessed with a 10.7 km deepwater coastline that is ice or silt free, and surrounded by sheltered water. The harbor can build another 30 berths, of which some can accommodate 300,000-dwt vessels.

Currently, there are six oil and liquefied gas wharves at the eastern part of Daxie harbor, and four container and bulk cargo wharves in the western part. Work will start on another 4 wharves to accommodate 250,000-dwt, 50,000-dwt and 20,000-dwt ships respectively. When completed, the harbor's annual handling capacity will top 40 million tons.

In readiness for the harbor's opening up in the near future, Daxie Island, a nearby state-level industrial development zone, has launched a special customs office directly under the Ningbo Customs. Preparations are underway for frontier inspection and quarantine authorities for the harbor.