(Yicai) Feb. 23 -- Shares of Chinese state-owned crane maker Zhenhua Port Machinery fell after the Biden Administration said it is concerned about possible cybersecurity threats posed by China-made container cranes operating at US ports.

ZPMC [SHA: 600320] was trading down 2.7 percent at CNY3.23 (45 US cents) as of 2.50 p.m. in Shanghai today.

ZPMC is closely monitoring the matter, and its subsidiary in the US is still assessing the veracity of the news, a staffer at the Shanghai-based company told Yicai. Even if the news is confirmed, ZPMC’s business in the US accounts for no more than 10 percent of the total last year, so the impact would be very limited, the staffer added.

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Feb. 21 granting the US Coast Guard greater power to implement cybersecurity checks at ports and proposing to phase out China-made container cranes and replace them with Japanese ones over potential espionage threats.

Around 80 percent of port cranes used at US ports are made in China and use Chinese software. To address this critical issue, the Biden Administration allocated a USD20 billion budget for the next five years to purchase Japan-made cranes from the US unit of Japanese corporation Mitsui Group.

Founded in 1992, ZPMC is one of the world’s largest heavy equipment manufacturers. It exports port machinery to over 300 ports worldwide, seizing over 80 percent of the global market share and ranking first by exports for 18 consecutive years.

In the first half of last year, ZPMC’s newly signed port machinery supply contracts amounted to CNY2.8 billion (USD380 million), up 15 percent from a year earlier. In 2022, its inventory of container cranes reached 3,801 units, accounting for 70 percent of the industry’s total.

Editor: Futura Costaglione