China's fast trade growth in recent years has triggered demand for an additional capacity to handle more than 10 million TEUs annually, which surpasses the total carried by Chinese container lines while leaving a huge space for development, a shipping executive said Friday.

"Attracted by the enormous demand, all the shipping companies in the world are busy building container liners," said Li Kelin, president of China Shipping (Group) Company, in an interview with Xinhua.

About 90 percent of the world's cargo is traded via sea transportation, and most of it is shipped by containers. For the past 20 years, every 1-percent increase in world trade has led to a 2-percent increase in containers.

Last year, Chinese ports handled 48 million TEU containers, accounting for 16 percent of the world's total and ranking the first in the world. China's transportation department predicted that the figure would become 57 million this year and more than 100 million in 2010.

Domestic shipping companies enjoy greater potentiality, Li said, noting that almost all major shipping companies in the world have entered China, leaving just 16 percent of the market share to the two leading Chinese domestic companies, including China Shipping.

Li said China Shipping is working to carry more than 4 million TEUs this year and more than 5 million next year. By 2010, the company is expected to enter the top three container carriers in the world and take 15 percent of China's container shipping market.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2004)