Harbors built, expanded to meet new demand for shipping, logistics

Zhanjiang Port Group, which operates major foreign trade ports in southwestern Guangdong province, is working to increase its port handling capacity to meet the growing demand of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Zhanjiang Port was an important hub of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. It offers the shortest sea route from China to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Zhang Yi, chairman of Zhanjiang Port Group, said a large sum of money is being invested to build and expand a number of port facilities in the Leizhou Peninsula — where Zhanjiang and the company’s ports are located— and improve related facilities.

“These moves aim to help to build Zhanjiang Port into a major international shipping center in western Guangdong and even Southwest China region,” Zhang said.

To this end, major ports in Zhanjiang and the Leizhou Peninsula are being constructed and expanded, Zhang said.

In the Mangang port area, six expansion projects are underway, with a total investment of 15.5 billion yuan ($2.25 billion). The port area is designed to have an annual throughput of more than 70.4 million metric tons, including container throughput of more than 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

An additional 8 billion yuan is being spent on constructing wharfs in the city’s Donghai Island. Wharfs on the island have been designed to annually handle more than 40 million tons of cargo.

Ports in Xuwen, Leizhou and Lianjiang are also being built or reconstructed to help strengthen the Leizhou Peninsula’s position as the major import and export hub in western Guangdong and Southwest China.

Zhanjiang Port will open even more international sea routes to link Zhanjiang to cities around the world in the future.

The port currently has 13 international sea routes to connect the city with the rest of the world, including six routes connecting cities in Southeast Asia.

Last year alone, products exported from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to the Chinese mainland via Zhanjiang Port reached 6.9 million tons, up 69 percent year-on-year. These include 2.33 million tons from Vietnam and 1.75 million tons from Indonesia.

China mainly imported coal, crude oil, iron ore, nickel minerals and containers via Zhanjiang Port last year.

Zhanjiang Port Group is also negotiating with China’s inland cities for use of Zhanjiang Port as a foreign trade channel in the coming years.