Officials laud nation as firm announces donation to local charities By Kristopher Hanson, Staff writer
A delegation of city leaders, led by Mayor Bob Foster, visited one of the world’s largest seaports Tuesday in China following an announcement that an Asian shipping firm was donating $140,000 to Long Beach charities. The donation by Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), whose cargo ships travel between Asia and Pier F in the Port of Long Beach, was made using rebates the company receives for reducing air pollution in the port.
Last year, OOCL was the top recipient of a port-sponsored program giving discounted dockage fees to shippers who slow within 20 miles of port. By reducing speed, the ships emit less toxic diesel smoke, helping clear the air.
Those rebates will be re-invested in Long Beach, but it’s unclear when or how the money will be distributed.
Tuesday’s stop in the booming port city of Shenzhen, home to some 17 million people, came not long after the group visited 2008 Olympic sailing facilities in Long Beach’s sister city of Qingdao, China.
There, Foster and other delegates were given a tour of new facilities on Fushan Bay built to host athletes during next year’s Olympic games in Beijing.
Visitors marveled at the fast pace of construction and progress transforming the sprawling Communist nation. “One gets the feeling that wherever you go in China, there is nothing the Chinese can’t do if they put their mind to it,” wrote Long Beach Port Executive Officer Gustav Hein from Qingdao. “Apartments, commercial buildings, roadways, railways, hospitals seemingly get built overnight.”
After the Qingdao stop, Foster and Harbor Commission President Jim Hankla visited the Yantian International Container Terminal in Shenzhen, where they signed an agreement to exchange technology teams in an effort to improve environmental and energy consumption methods at both ports.
Yantian, one of the world’s busiest marine terminals, handles nearly 9 million containers annually – more than the entire Port of Long Beach did in 2006.
The trade mission began June 4 in South Korea and included stops in Japan, Hong Kong and China.
The group returns home Thursday.