South Korea will build a new international maritime passenger terminal on the west coast by 2020 in a bid to meet rising demand for maritime transport with China, the government said Friday.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said that it will construct four docks and one terminal building at the port of Pyeongtaek-Dangjin.

The ministry said it will spend 203.2 billion won ($165.3 million) on the project by 2020.

The port currently has three piers with five ferry routes to China but runs at full capacity as the number of passengers nearly doubled to 490,000 in 2014 from 280,000 in 2008.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea has been on a steady rise for recent years, with it hitting nearly 6 million last year and expected to rise to 8 million this year. (Yonhap)