Chinese Ministry of Transport has issued a circular on the design of 400,000dwt bulk carries entering Chinese ports amending its previous design layout.

In line with the circular, the eligible vessels must not exceed a deadweight tonnage of 403,844 dwt and need to be 362m long, 65.6m wide, 30.5m deep and feature a draught of 23m.

The previous design code covered ships up to 350,000dwt, according to a Chinese news report.

As all bulkers of Brazilian iron ore producer, Vale, meet the set out criteria, the circular is seen as lifting of Chinese three-year old ban on 400,000 bulkers, known as Valemaxes.

Vale introduced the leviathan cargo ships with an aim of cutting transportation costs from Brazil to China.

Easing of the ban comes in the wake of Vale's deal with COSCO from last September on the lease of ten very large ore carriers to be built by China Merchants.

The VLOCs will be used to transport Vale's iron ore from Brazil to China.