Port lease puts NT on map: Giles

The Northern Territory's chief minister has used a visit to Beijing to vigorously defend a controversial decision to lease Darwin's port to a Chinese company.

Adam Giles told an AustCham lunch on Monday the agreement to lease the port to Chinese firm Landbridge for 99 years at a fee of $506 million "puts Darwin and the Northern Territory on the map for Chinese business".

"We have shovel-ready projects for investors of all sizes," he told the Beijing luncheon.