Official Account of Reference News: Hong Kong Media: Chinese Port Giants Set off Wave with Record Growth

On January 20th, Reference News Network reported that the website of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post published a report titled "Ambitious: Chinese Port Giants Set Off a Wave with Record Growth" on January 19th. The report is compiled as follows:
Despite the severe fluctuations in global trade in 2025, China is steadily advancing its port expansion agenda, creating larger and strategically superior hub ports to lay a solid foundation for the future of trade.
Official data shows that in the first 11 months of 2025, China's foreign trade container throughput increased by 9.5% year-on-year, helping the annual trade surplus reach a historic high of $1.19 trillion.
Major ports have contributed to the achievement of the above record. Taking Shanghai as an example, the container throughput of Shanghai Port will exceed 55 million TEUs in 2025, breaking the annual record.
According to Ningbo Customs, as of early December last year, the annual container throughput of Zhoushan Port in Ningbo, Zhejiang exceeded 40 million TEUs, becoming the third port in the world, after Shanghai Port and Singapore Port, to reach this milestone in annual throughput.
Professor Zhen Hong from Shanghai Maritime University said that it is expected that the throughput capacity of Chinese ports will continue to grow in the next five years, but the growth rate will slow down. He emphasized the importance of "transportation first" and stated that "forward-looking port infrastructure" is crucial for supporting the development of inland hinterland and trade expansion.
The data released by the General Administration of Customs last week showed that China's annual export volume in 2025 increased by 5.5% year-on-year, reaching 3.77 trillion US dollars, still one of the pillars of the world's second largest economy. The strong performance of exports coincides with China's shift towards a new growth model centered on consumption and domestic demand, gradually breaking away from its dependence on traditional investment and trade.
Wang Jun, Deputy Director General of the General Administration of Customs, stated that despite the lack of growth momentum in global trade, China still holds a stable expectation for the prospects of foreign trade this year.
He said at the press conference on the 14th that China's trading partners have become more diverse, and its ability to resist risks has significantly increased. The basic foundation of China's foreign trade remains stable.
In this context, major ports in China are consolidating their leading advantages through expansion and upgrading.
Shandong Port Group announced early last year that it would launch 15 projects in Qingdao with a total investment of 77 billion yuan.
Zhenhong pointed out that port expansion aims to solve two core problems: first, the growth rate of container cargo demand is higher than that of bulk cargo; Secondly, the growth momentum of hub ports is stronger than that of branch ports.
The Chinese government is also committed to occupying a more important position in the global shipping network.
A deputy director of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport stated in a media interview in December last year that the next step is to build a batch of world-class port areas with an annual cargo throughput of over 100 million tons or container throughput of over 10 million TEUs, integrating digitalization and green technology, comprehensively improving the port hub capacity, and optimizing the international shipping route network.
For many years, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Port and Shipping Connectivity Index has consistently ranked China among the top in the world, with Shanghai Port at its core.
However, with the adjustment of China's economic structure, overall infrastructure investment has slowed down, and relevant departments are also working hard to avoid blind investment and disorderly competition.
Zhen Hong mentioned that the sixth meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Commission held in July last year pointed out the need to orderly promote the optimization and integration of coastal port clusters. In recent years, some local governments have promoted the integration of provincial ports, and this trend has become increasingly evident.
Ports should clarify their positioning and achieve healthy development based on their own conditions, especially the demands of their hinterland, "said Zhen Hong.
In 2019, Shandong Province integrated seven ports within the province into the Shandong Port Group, with Qingdao Port as the core hub, while endowing other ports with specialized functions. According to official data from the group, its total cargo throughput has increased from 1.32 billion tons in 2019 to over 1.9 billion tons in 2025. (Compiled by Guo Jun)