High quality development of ports adds vitality to foreign trade

On December 18th, the "New Shanghai" ship loaded fruits such as avocados, blueberries, and grapes from Peru and docked at Yangshan Port in Shanghai. According to statistics from Shanghai Customs, the "Qiankai Shanghai" sea freight route has accumulated a total import and export value of 5.57 billion yuan and 205000 tons of goods in the past year, effectively promoting economic and trade exchanges between China and Latin America.

According to data from the Ministry of Transport, the port's foreign trade container throughput is expected to increase by about 9.6% in 2025. Analysts believe that with the application of new technologies and the improvement of customs clearance efficiency, the high-quality development of ports is constantly adding new vitality to foreign trade.

Route optimization, closer economic and trade exchanges

The opening of the "Qiankai Shanghai" shipping route has shortened the shipping time between the two cities from over a month to about 23 days. The opening of the Qian Kai to Shanghai route means that we can export more goods. As trade has become more efficient and cost-effective, product quality is very competitive, and our small and medium-sized enterprises have also ushered in better development opportunities, "said Mu Nuo, the Peruvian Consul of Commerce in Shanghai.

The enrichment and optimization of air routes are a tangible manifestation of the high-quality development of ports across the country.

Weave a dense network of air routes. Recently, under the supervision of Huangdao Customs under Qingdao Customs, the Qianwan Port Area of Qingdao Port in Shandong Province successfully opened the "Qingdao Jordan Aqaba" international trade route, mainly transporting mechanical and electrical products, textiles and other goods. The opening of the new route will further expand the route network of Qingdao Port towards the "the Belt and Road" countries, and significantly enhance the trade between Qingdao Port and the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Reduce transit time. In early November, a new Southeast Asian route exclusively operated by Mediterranean Shipping opened at Tianjin Port, reducing the sea transportation time from China to Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and other places by more than one-third compared to transit. The cargo loading rate of the first ship is close to 100%. Currently, this route has operated 8 voyages, and the manifest has been arranged before the Spring Festival, "said Gu Zhenyu, sales manager of Mediterranean Shipping Tianjin Branch.

Better radiation to the hinterland. Not long ago, Liaogang Group successfully opened the "US West Middle East" route in collaboration with relevant units. In terms of imports, it can not only undertake direct return cargo from North America, but also create conditions for Dalian Port to carry out transit business; In terms of exports, the route provides direct services to the Middle East, which will further promote the export of advantageous industries such as chemical products, mechanical and electrical products, refractory materials, and automotive parts from Dalian Port and the Northeast hinterland.

Air routes are an important carrier for port services in foreign trade. Optimizing air routes and actively playing the role of pivot and channel in international trade commodity circulation in major domestic ports can promote more Chinese products to be sold globally, help more Chinese consumers buy global goods, and thus strengthen economic and trade exchanges between China and various parts of the world, "said Li Hailian, a professor of Customs Management at the University of International Business and Economics, to our reporter.

Efficiency improvement, guaranteed optimal input and output

During the 14th Five Year Plan period, China's automated terminal scale, quantity, and technological level remained among the world's top. The improvement of automation and intelligence level has become an important support for many ports to achieve "optimal entry and exit".

On December 2nd, the annual container throughput of Ningbo Zhoushan Port exceeded 40 million TEUs for the first time. Behind the impressive data is the acceleration of smart dock construction. By 2025, Ningbo Zhoushan Port will integrate new generation information technologies such as 5G and digital twins to accelerate the construction of smart terminals. Among them, Meishan Port Area has built the world's largest remote control bridge crane and remote control gantry crane cluster, Yongzhou Port has formed a "remote control quay crane+unmanned driving truck+automated track crane" operation mode, and Shulang Lake Port has innovated the operation mode of offshore intelligent ore terminal.

In addition to improving the operational efficiency of the port itself, optimizing the port supervision mode also plays a significant role. On December 19th, at the Zhangzhou Customs Supervision Service Platform under Xiamen Customs, a customs business expert was conducting real-time audio and video connections with two customs officers stationed in two counties and districts to simultaneously complete the inspection of one batch of fresh broccoli and one batch of fresh shiitake mushrooms. The entire process took about 30 minutes. Vegetables are fresh and perishable, and the inspection time is closely related to our plan for accepting orders, "said Huang Wenwei, the general manager of Longrun Fruit and Vegetable Professional Cooperative. Under the new model, we can apply for and accept inspections on the same day, which improves the delivery efficiency of export orders by more than 40%.

In Li Hailian's view, with the increasing degree of China's opening up to the outside world, the development of foreign trade has put forward higher requirements for port throughput capacity. More and more ports are actively integrating new generation information technology into various aspects of port construction and operation, improving the digitalization, intelligence, and automation level of port infrastructure, thereby adding more vitality to the high-quality development of foreign trade.

The prosperity of the Hong Kong connectivity industry unleashes new growth momentum

The port is thriving and the industry is thriving. Nowadays, an increasing number of 'Hong Kong connectivity industries' are achieving a virtuous cycle.

Iron ore is unloaded from ships at Rizhao Port and transported to local steel mills such as Shandong Iron and Steel Rizhao Company and Rizhao Iron and Steel Holding Group to be smelted into boron steel coils. The steel coils are then sent to downstream enterprises' intelligent production lines, where they undergo processes such as laser feeding, high-temperature heating, and integrated forming with a thousand ton press, ultimately becoming lightweight vehicle components. Some components were subsequently sent to Great Wall Motors' Rizhao production base to complete the assembly of the entire vehicle.

At the same time, many places have also taken the initiative to closely integrate port development with the local economy.

In Jiangsu, Lianyungang City relies on the state-owned asset platform to promote the establishment of a "supply chain+park" cooperation model between ports and industrial clusters such as petrochemicals and new materials, accelerating the formation of a virtuous cycle of "port drainage industry agglomeration feedback to ports"; In Hebei Province, Huanghua City is fully committed to ensuring the supply of land, energy and other factors, improving supporting facilities such as water, electricity, gas, and roads, and promoting the early landing and production of related projects; In Guangxi, Qinzhou City proposes to promote the integrated development of river port industry and city, linking international gateway ports, inland river ports along the line, industrial parks, towns and other economic nodes, and building a new spatial layout of connecting rivers and seas, and river sea intermodal transportation

Experts say that with the simultaneous increase in foreign trade volume and quality, the industry is no longer a simple layout near the port, but an organic whole deeply integrated with the port; Ports are no longer just simple service areas, but fertile soil for industrial upgrading and the release of new kinetic energy. In the future, we should better leverage the unique role of ports in connecting two markets and two resources, deepen foreign economic and trade cooperation, and inject more new impetus into China's economic opening and development, "said Li Hailian.