A container ship of Cosco is docked on a quay at the Port of Qingdao in Qingdao city, East China's Shandong province, August 8, 2016.[Photo/IC]

SHANGHAI - China's COSCO Shipping Ports Limited Tuesday announced its subsidiary has acquired a 40-percent stake in Italy's Vado Holding B.V. from Maersk Group's APM Terminal for 53 million euros ($58.3 million).

Vado Holding operates the Vado Reefer Terminal in northwest Italy, one of the largest reefer terminals in the Mediterranean region, with an annual handling capacity of 300,000 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent) in addition to 600,000 pallets.

COSCO said it is building a new container terminal to be completed in 2018 at Vado with initial annual capacity of 600,000 TEUs and will later upgrade to 900,000 TEUs.

The company said the acquisition of Vado ports is in line with its strategy of developing overseas shipping hubs and strengthening its global network of container terminals.