Port prosperity contributes to foreign trade boom

Aerial photo taken on May 27, 2020 shows a view of the container terminal of Beibu Gulf Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Xu Zhiyan/Xinhua)

The container throughput at Chinese ports has been increasing and most of the country’s ports reported growth in container services this year, according to a forecast report on the global top 20 container ports recently released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Based on results produced using a mathematical model, the report said that out of the top 20 container ports in the world, nine are from China, which is an indication that China’s container sector still occupies a large proportion of the global industry.

In the first half of the year, the container throughput at Chinese ports increased by 9.2 percent year on year to 2.36 billion tons, and about more than 138 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers were handled, a year-on-year increase of 15.0 percent. China's total imports and exports expanded 27.1 percent year on year to 18.07 trillion yuan in the first half of the year.

The Qianwan Container Terminal in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province has been busy these days. According to a manager of an international logistics company surnamed Wang, the company saw double-digit growth in shipments this year thanks to the robust export momentum and strong foreign demand.

 “On today (July 23) alone, we had 21 container ships working at the port,” said Zhang Jun, a deputy general manager of the Qianwan Container Terminal, disclosing that in the first half of the year, the company opened 15 new shipping routes, 10 of which run across member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and Belt and Road countries and regions.

Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, east China’s Zhejiang province, has also been busy these days as inbound ships carrying crude oil or oil products arrive and depart in an orderly manner. According to customs statistics, in H1, Zhoushan Port declared 25.276 million tons of imported crude oil, a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent, and 5.131 million tons of exported crude oil, a year-on-year increase of 117.1 percent. Import and export volumes have both seen record highs.

Since a unified customs clearance system was adopted in the Greater Bay Area covering Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao, imported and exported goods no longer have to be transported to designated ports, but can be declared at nearby ports covered by the system. Currently, the system has been introduced to 10 inland terminals in five cities of Guangdong province. The system has made effective use of shipping resources and lowered logistics costs for enterprises.