China's scorching economic expansion is powering a growing armada of ever-larger container ships plying the waters between Asia and North America. Shanghai, which has been busy reclaiming its status as China's premier financial and commercial center, is launching more of those ships as its port averages an annual growth rate of 29%. But fast growth can apply a chokehold to aging facilities and the port's efficiency now is foundering on the shallow, silted Yangtze River bottom. To compensate, planners are moving Shanghai's far-ocean cargo business from shallow water to deepwa-ter, 31 kilometers off the coast.
展开▼
