The white-carpeted, formal room where Chen Xuyuan speaks to visitors, on Xiao Yangshan island, is a busy place. Mr Chen, president of Shanghai International Port Group, plays host to a constant stream of dignitaries from elsewhere in China eager to see the container port Mr Chen's company has built on the rocky island, linked to the mainland by a 32.5km bridge. It is one of the most audacious engineering feats¹ even in a part of China which excels at them.

不过，陈戌源明确表示，希望提高上港集团的知名度，使其成为一家重要的国际性集装箱码头运营商。这一战略在去年受到了更为广泛的关注，当时上港集团出人意料地收购马士基集装箱码头公司(APM Terminals)在比利时泽布吕赫港新建集装箱码头40%的股份，这是该集团首笔海外投资。马士基集装箱码头公司是AP穆勒-马士基集团(AP M?ller-Maersk Group)的丹麦子公司。

However, Mr Chen makes it clear that he wants to extend SIPG's reputation and turn the company into an important international container terminal operator. The strategy came to wider attention last year, when SIPG unexpectedly took a 40 per cent stake in a new container terminal constructed by Danish-owned APM Terminals, part of the AP M?ller-Maersk Group, at Zeebrugge in Belgium. The investment was the company's first outside China.

拥有上港集团70%股份的上海市政府为其制定的目标是，将该集团转变为一家大型的国际性港口运营商，而泽布吕赫港的投资是实现这一目标的第一步。"如果我们想要成为一家全球性的港口运营商，那么这项投资还不够，"陈戌源在谈到泽布吕赫港的投资时表示。"但这一目标不是我们在短期内就能实现的。"

The Zeebrugge investment was the first step in pursuing the goal - set for the company by the Shanghai municipal government, which owns 70 per cent of SIPG - of turning itself into a big international terminal operator. "If we want to become a global terminal operator, it's not enough," Mr Chen says of the Zeebrugge investment. "But the goal isn't something we'll achieve in a short period of time."

上港集团寻求国际化扩张的目标，将使其重复香港和黄港口(Hutchison Ports)、新加坡港务集团(PSA)和迪拜世界港口公司(DP World)所走的道路。上述三家公司位居目前全球最大四家国际化集装箱码头运营商之列。这些港口运营商都是从全球最繁忙集装箱港口之一起家，在此基础上积累资金和专业诀窍，再利用这些资源来收购或建立其它地区的资产。
SIPG's pursuit of international expansion will take it down the same route as three of the existing four biggest international container terminal operators - Hong Kong's Hutchison Ports, Singapore's PSA and Dubai's DP World. All started from a base in one of the world's busiest container ports and used them to build up reserves of finance and expertise² which were used to buy or build assets elsewhere.

其中两家大型港口运营商--新加坡港务集团和迪拜世界港口公司，其所有权属于本国的政府分支机构。陈戌源表示，他认为上海市政府近期内不可能减持其在上港集团的股份。持有该集团其余30%股份的股东，是上市公司招商局集团(China Merchants Group)。陈戌源承认，上港集团与其它大型港口运营商存在共性。但他表示，该集团也有其独有的特点，特别是它是服务于长江下游地区的港口。这里是中国一些发展最为迅速、最具活力的地区。

Two of the big operators - PSA and DP World - are owned by arms of their state. Mr Chen says he sees no immediate³ prospect⁴ of the municipal government's reducing its stake. The holder⁵ of the remaining 30 per cent is the listed China Merchants Group. Mr Chen accepts SIPG shares features with other big port operators. But it also has unique characteristics, especially its position as the port serving the lower Yangtze River, which passes through some of China's fastest-growing, most dynamic areas, he says.

因此，该集团的上海业务是一个混合体，既服务于其毗邻的内陆地区，又通过卡车、铁路或驳船将集装箱运至长江三角洲其它地区。该集团在上海的港口设施（包括小洋山岛在内），去年的集装箱吞吐量为2170万标准箱（TEU），使其成为全球第三大繁忙的集装箱码头，仅次于香港和新加坡。

As a result, Shanghai's business is a mix between serving its immediate hinterland and trans-shipping containers to travel by truck, rail or barge⁶ elsewhere in the Yangtze Delta⁷. The group's facilities in Shanghai, including Xiao Yangshan, last year handled 21.7m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, making it the world's third-busiest container port after Hong Kong and Singapore.

"由于我们地处长江三角洲，因此我们是依托内陆的运输码头，"陈戌源表示。"该地区的年对外贸易额达5500亿美元。这为集团发展提供了一个非常坚实的基础。"

"We are a kind of hinterland-based trans-shipment port because we're based on the Yangtze River Delta," Mr Chen says. "The annual foreign trade volume in this region is $550bn. This has provided a very solid foundation for the group to grow."

上港集团寻求国际化发展的下一步将如何展开，比如该集团是否将与马士基集装箱码头公司合作，目前尚不清楚。据悉，马士基希望与上港集团建立牢固的合作关系。

How the next stage of international growth will unfold remains⁸ unclear, including whether it will involve APM Terminals, which is known to want to build a strong relationship with SIPG.

"我们认为存在各种各样的可能性，"陈戌源表示。"我们可能与马士基集装箱码头公司再次合作，也可能与另一方合作--比如说，准备与我们合作的某地方政府。"

"We think there are all kinds of possibilities," Mr Chen says. "It could be another co-operation with APM Terminals. It could be a co-operation with another party - for example, a local government that's prepared to co-operate with us."

就进一步扩张而言，亚太地区是最具潜力的地方，但陈戌源表示，他希望在全世界建立港口网络。他只是排除了在美国进行扩张的可能性。去年，迪拜世界港口公司收购英国铁行港口(P&O)的美国港口资产，遭到美国政界的强烈反对，最后迫使这家阿拉伯公司出售该项资产。此后，美国实际上已对许多外国港口运营商紧闭大门。

The Asia-Pacific region is the most promising⁹ location for further expansion but Mr Chen also says he wants to build up a network of terminals all over the world. He rules out only the US, which is effectively closed to many foreign port operators after a political outcry last year over the purchase by DP World of the US port assets of Britain's P&O forced the Arab company to sell.

"有时候，愿望只是愿望，并不是现实，"陈戌源表示。"我们知道美国的港口市场是一个非常有吸引力的市场，因此单以我们的愿望来说，我们可能会希望去美国投资港口。但在现实中，如果我们这么做的话，美国政府可能会设置大量的限制和条件。"

"Sometimes wishes are wishes and not reality," Mr Chen says. "We know the American port market is a very good market, so just according to our wishes we might want to go to America to invest in ports. But in reality the American government might place a lot of restrictions¹⁰ and conditions on our doing so."

除收购海外资产以外，陈戌源称上港集团还必须加强其内部管理，并改善上海的监管环境。

As well as uying overeas assets, Mr Chen says SIPG needs to strengthen its internal management and improve the regulatory environment in Shanghai.

"我们必须提高自己在国际市场上的竞争力，不仅要与附近的港口竞争，还要与全球其它所有港口展开竞争，"陈戌源表示。"我们认为，这正是国际化的真正含意所在。"

"We need to improve our competitiveness in international markets, not only to compete with neighbouring ports but also with all the other ports in the world," Mr Chen says. "That's what we think internationalisation really means."

要想说明上港集团成功的决心（这种决心贯穿在其最近的发展过程中），一个例证就是如今繁忙的洋山港，在5年前只不过是一个渔村。了解了这些背景情况，全球海上运输业内可能没人会小瞧陈戌源最新的一系列计划。

It is an example of the determination to succeed which has characterised much of SIPG's recent development - as is the bustling¹¹ Yangshan Port, on a site which only five years ago housed only a fishing village. Against that backdrop, few in the world maritime¹² industry are likely to dismiss Mr Chen's latest plans.