The signing ceremony for the twinned port partnership between SPG and Dakar Port takes place on Jan 27 via video conference. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese port operator Shandong Port Group on Jan 27 established a twinned port partnership with Dakar Port, located in the capital city of the West African republic of Senegal, via a video conference – taking the number of SPG's twinned ports to 36.

Under the agreement, the two sides will carry out exchanges and cooperation based on their new relationship – strengthening collaboration in areas including port construction, port management and operations, as well as in green and low-carbon technologies.

As an overarching hub for international trade, SPG has followed the trend of China's opening-up to accelerate its pace of going global and the group has continued to establish maritime cooperation with ports involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI. It has connected itself to over 180 countries and regions across the globe by 300-plus container routes. As such, a well-developed maritime trade route network has been created to link SPG with countries and regions along the BRI.

Currently, SPG's twinned ports span six continents. Moreover, the port group has successfully operated several overseas projects -- the crude oil terminal of Kyaukpyu Harbour in Myanmar, the Boke project in Guinea and the Port of Vado Ligure in Italy. By establishing twinned port partnerships, SPG has continued to offer management expertise and capital to them, which has created a logistics channel that traverses the world and which has built a benchmark for global port management and operations.

A delegation led by Mamadou Ndiaye, Senegal's ambassador to China, visited SPG last September. The parties reached consensus on strengthening port cooperation between SPG and Dakar Port. The official signing ceremony was the direct outcome of that meeting.

This signing will provide SPG with access to enter Southwest Africa, while for its part it will provide advanced port management expertise and investment to help improve Dakar Port's facilities. In this context, the two parties will conduct in-depth cooperation in the maritime economy, port business, renovation of the old port area and employee training, as part of efforts to promote a friendly relationship between China and Senegal.