Dubai Ports World, one of the largest marine terminal operators in the world, has won approval from Chinese authorities to build a container terminal in eastern Chinese city of Qingdao.

DP World, based in the United Arab Emirates, will invest 3.48 billion yuan (435 million U.S. dollars) into the project, said a spokesman with the Municipal Development and Reform Commission of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province on Friday.

China's State Development and Reform Commission also approved the company to build two 100,000-ton and two 30,000-ton berths with a designed annual throughput of 2.2 million TEUs (twentyfoot equivalent unit), accounting for about one third of current container handling capacity of Qingdao port, the spokesman said.

It is one of the biggest foreign-funded project in Qingdao in recent years, he said.

Construction will begin soon and the terminal is expected to be put into operation between 2008 and 2009, he said.

DP World has 51 terminals spanning 24 countries and five continents, with a global capacity of more than 50 million TEUs, its official website says.

Source: Xinhua