The 12th China international maritime technology symposium and expo is scheduled to take place in Shanghai on Dec. 2-5.

Business people from 28 countries and regions will attend the function, where the world's latest equipment and technology in maritime shipping will be presented, said Zhang Shengkun, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Shipbuilding Engineering Society.

Participants will also exchange technologies and experience in maritime transport at the symposium, which is sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Shipbuilding Engineering Society, according to Zhang.

The biennial symposium and expo was first held in 1981.

Shanghai is determined to become a top world shipping center. Shanghai Port handled 5.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containers in the first six months of the year, up 35 percent from the same period last year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2003)