DAFENG port in China''s eastern Jiangsu province will undergo major expansion that is expected to turn the facility into the largest sea port in the province''s central coastal regions, Xinhua reports.

The project calls for the construction of 12 new berths by the end of the decade. The berths will have a cargo handling capacity of more than 10,000 tons each, which will add one million TEU onto the port''s existing annual throughput capacity, according to an official from the Jiangsu Provincial Communications Department cited in the report.

The port of Dafeng currently has two berths in operation that were built in October 2005; and investors from 11 countries and regions around the world have already invested a total of CNY13.6 billion (US$1.70 billion) on more than 80 projects within the port area.

By the end of the decade, it is expected that these latest development plans will have turned the port of Dafeng into the second largest sea port in the area after Lianyungang in Jiangsu province.