UPDATE 1-China Merchants sees slowing growth, expansion

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HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - China Merchants Holdings (0144.HK), the country largest operator of ports, plans to curtail its pace of expansion because of expectations that sputtering global shipping will retard the pace of growth in its key southern Chinese market in 2009.

Analysts expect shares in Chinese port operators such as COSCO Pacific (1199.HK) to come under pressure in coming months after a sharp deceleration in the country's exports underscored the potential for once-stellar growth to tank, though many remained bullish on the sector's longer-term potential.

Port operators focused on southern China, where trade growth has slowed more sharply because of the prevalence of lower value-added goods manufacturing in the region, are likely to be harder hit.

Chairman Fu Yuning told reporters on Tuesday his firm, which derives 70 percent of its revenue from ports in the country's south, planned to curb expansion plans amid expectations of slowing throughput growth at key terminals in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

But Fu would not identify areas in which to trim expansion.

Shares in China Merchants, riding a general upswell in shipping stocks after a global benchmark shipping rates index gained for the first time in weeks on Monday, ended the day up more than 5 percent. (Reporting by Ruth Wong; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)