The city of Shanghai is scheduled to complete 25 container berths by 2020 as part of Yangshan deep-water port, which is under construction.
Xu Peixing, director of the Shanghai Municipal Port Administration Bureau, said the 25 berths are expected to handle 10 million 20-foot containers in 2020, making up half of the port's total cargo-handling capacity.
"The construction in the next 17 years will be a crucial stage for the port project, as the city will be able to reach the standard of a real international hub harbour by then," he said.
The port project is expected to cost over US$18 billion. At present, a consortium of 10 Chinese commercial banks has signed an agreement to provide loans to the project.
Meanwhile, the city will establish a residential area or "new town" covering 90 square kilometres in Shanghai Nanhui District next to the port, with investment of some 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion).
Wan Daning, head of Shanghai Nanhui District, said: "The investment for the new town will mainly come from government support and private funding."
The professionals and technicians working at the port will live in the new town, Wan said.
"We hope that when the town is finished in 2020 it will have a population of more than 500,000. Including the floating population, the figure is expected to surpass 800,000."
According to local officials, the construction work is well on track and an area of wasteland covering 45 square kilometres has been levelled. Workers are reclaiming another 45 square kilometres of land from the sea.