Russia's Summa Group and the Port of Rotterdam Authority may build a new port in China's Nangang industrial area, 150 kilometers far from Beijing, Kommersant business daily reported on Thursday quoting the port's CEO Hans Smits as saying.
Smits said the authority would complete a study for the project this summer and then make a final decision. The Dutch port authorities are interested in the fast-growing Chinese market and see opportunities to transport cargo between the two countries, he added.
China was examining two possible ownership variants for the project, a source close to the talks told the paper. The state stake in the new port may be 51 percent, with the partners owning 49 percent, or Summa and the Dutch port authorities may get 33 percent each and the state 34 percent.
Construction of the new port would probably cost about $2 billion, Infranews agency head Alexei Bezborodov said.
Summa, a diversified holding owned by Russian billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov is a private group with assets in port logistics, engineering, construction, telecommunications and the oil and gas sectors.
Rotterdam Port is Europe's largest, with 2011 cargo transshipment of over 430 million tons.
