The following is a brief overview of China's major ports and their development plans

1. Shanghai Port Total TEU throughput for 2008: 28,006,000 TEUs up 7.08 percent on 26,152,000 TEUs in 2007 Shanghai Port is located at the east end of the Yangtze River Delta at the convergence point of the east-west Yangtze transport corridor and the north-south ocean transport corridor. The major hub port on China’s East Coast, Shanghai’s annual foreign trade throughput accounts for about 20 percent of the national total. Shanghai’s transformation from a river port to a real sea port began in June 2002 upon construction of the Yangshan Deepwater Port. At present, the Phase 4 project of the port is under construction. By the year 2012, Shanghai port will boast a 10 km-long quay length, over 30 deepwater container berths, and a projected annual output of over 13m TEUs. While the global financial crisis has not spared Shanghai Port, the core business of SIPG (Shanghai International Port Group)—the container sector—did not shrink. For the second year in a row, Shanghai Port ranked second worldwide in container throughput. Shenzhen Port Total TEU throughput for 2008: 21,416,000 TEUs, up 1.49 percent on 21,100,000 TEUs in 2007 Shenzhen Port is located in the southern region of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province, to the east of the Pearl River Estuary (Lingding Estuary) and adjacent to Hong Kong. The port consists of the following major areas: Shekou, Chiwan, Mawan and Yantian. In 1993, Yantian Port Group established a joint venture with Hutchison Whampoa Yantian Port Investment Co called Yantian International Container Terminals Ltd. (YICT). In the new venture, Yantian Port Group controlled a 27 percent stake and Hutchison Whampoa owned 50 percent, with the remaining 23 percent stake held by COSCO and Maersk. The financial crisis significantly impacted Yantian Port as its major lines are American and to a lesser extent European. Currently, Yantian Port is applying to the State Council to further develop the “Yantian Bonded Port” Meanwhile, Shekou, Chiwan and Mawan, the three ports under the China Merchants Group, joined together to cope with the current crisis and for the present expansion of the Qianhai Bay Bonded Port Area. According to The General Plan of Shenzhen Port, based on the “two wings of its east and west port groups, the port plans to develop the Yantian and Longgang Areas in the east and six areas--Nanshan, Dachanwan, Dachan and Xiaochan Islands and Bao’an Areas--in the west with the aim of establishing the three major port areas of Yantian, Nanshan and Dachanwan. By the year 2010, Shenzhen port container throughput is projected to reach 26m TEUs and 38m TEUs by 2020, at which point 67 new container berths will have been added. Guangzhou Port Total TEU throughput for 2008: 11,001,000 TEUs, up 18.8 percent on 9,260,000 TEUs in 2007 As the largest comprehensive hub port in South China, Guangzhou Port continues to grow in cargo volume due to the rapidly expanding economy of its hinterland. According to The General Plan of Guangzhou Port, during the 11th five-year Plan Guangzhou Port planned to invest about CNY 24.97bn in establishing twenty 10,000dwt navigational channels and 39 deepwater berths in order to expand port capacity by 69.24m tonnes and 6.04m TEUs. The Guangzhou Port Group has also invested in over CNY 10bn in establishing 14 specialised deepwater bulk and container berths (50,000-150,000 dwt), including Nanshan Phase-1 and Phase-2. With enhanced infrastructure construction, the four port areas--Nanshan Port, Xinsha Port, Huangpu Port and Downtown Port--have greatly expanded their capabilities. To date, the Nansha Port area has established nearly 30 domestic and international lines and has attracted the world’s top 10 container liner companies with 19 foreign trade container liner routes covering Europe, America, Africa, Oceania, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and Southeast Asia, among other regions. On 9 July 2009, Phase 1 of the Guangzhou Nansha Bonded Port successfully passed a national check. The deepwater terminal at Nansha Port Area enabled Guangzhou Port to achieve an annual container throughput of over 11m TEUs in 2008, marking the port as one of the world’s ten largest for the first time. Port cargo throughput is projected to reach 400m tonnes by 2010 while container throughput is projected to reach 14m TEUs. Ningbo-Zhoushan Total TEU throughput for 2008: 10,934,000 TEUs, up 15.9 percent on 9,430,000 TEUs in 2007 There are 19 port areas in Ningbo-Zhoushan Harbour, eight of which are located in Ningbo with the other eleven belonging to Zhoushan. The general plan of Ningbo-Zhoushan Harbour as stated by the Ministry of Transport and the Zhejiang provincial government in April 2009 allocates function assignment and resource integration for the 19 harbour areas in order to create three core areas. These core areas are to be a container transport core area formed by Beilun, Jintang, Chuanshan, Daxie, Meishan, Liuheng and Yangshan, an import crude oil transshipment core area formed by Zhenhai, Beilun, Daxie, Laotangshan and Dinghai and a bulk cargo core area concerning coal and iron ore transshipment formed by Beilun, Liuheng, Sijiao and Qushan .Currently, Ningbo-Zhoushan harbour is the biggest iron ore transshipment base in China. Yangshan Harbour, which is constructed and operated by the Shanghai Municipal Government, has also been involved with the plan, whereas the two previously had been competitors. A result of the plan is that Shanghai Harbour will be branded as a pivotal port for containers from both home and abroad, while Ningbo-Zhoushan Harbour is estimated to be a main trade port for containers and a transport hub for bulk cargo such as energy resources and raw materials. According to the plan, CNY 58.9bn will be invested in new berths and terminals in Ningbo-Zhoushan over the next five years. Container handling capacity of Beilun is projected to increase to 12m TEUs in 2010. Qingdao Port Total TEU throughput for 2008: 10,004,000 TEUs, up 5.8 percent on 9,460,000 TEUs in 2007 Qingdao Port, formed by the Old Port Area, Huangdao Oil Port Area and Qianwan New Port, currently consists of 72 berths and 15 world-class ports for containers, iron ore, crude oil, coal and grain. In 2008, the port achieved a record volume of 300m tonnes, ranking seventh worldwide, while its container volume reached 10.02m TEUs, ranking tenth worldwide. Meanwhile, Qingdao’s iron ore import volume ranks first in the world and crude oil volume import ranks first in China. In 2008, Qingdao Port invested CNY 2.35bn in building five 10,000 dwt dock berths. By 2010, 19 container berths in the Qianwan bonded port area are estimated to be an operation with an annual container volume of 11.5m TEUs. These changes are intended to help Qingdao Port become an international maritime centre in northeast Asia within the next 2 or 3 years. Qingdao Container throughput is projected to reach 12m TEUs by the end of 2010, and the port is well on its way to becoming an international shipping centre and regional distribution hub. Tianjin Total TEU throughput for 2008: 8,503,000 TEUs, up 19.7 percent on 7,103,000 TEUs in 2007 Tianjin Port is an artificial port with the highest waterway level in the world. By 2010, the port is expected to cover a total area of 100 square km. In 2009, Tianjin Port Group plans to invest CNY 15.1bn in a multi-functional port, with infrastructure construction and improvement to be carried out at 6 terminals. To date, Dongjiang Bonded Port Area Phase-1 has launched a free trade operation with 3 shipping companies registered in the area. Meanwhile, Tianjin has developed 12 inland dry ports, extending its logistics network to its vast hinterland. With total investment of CNY 6.6bn, Beigangchi Container Terminal has six 100,000 dwt container berths and an annual throughput capacity of 4m TEUs. Dongjiang Bonded Port Area, covering 10 square km, will be fully built up in 2010 giving Tianjin port the status as an international shipping and logistics centre. At present, there are three new container berths under construction, with a projected annual throughput of 1.7m TEUs. In order to speed up the transition from a traditional bulk cargo port to a modern container port during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, Tianjin Port will focus on the development of container transportation. As such about 20 new container berths are to be constructed before 2010, by which year Tianjin’s container throughput is to reach 12m TEUs. Xiamen Total TEU throughput for 2008: 5,035,000 TEUs up 8 percent on 4,630,000 TEUs in 2007 At present there are eight areas at Xiamen Port: Dongdu, Haicang, Songyu, Liuwudian, Zhaoyin, Houshi, Shima and a Passenger Terminal. In September 2008, Haicang Bonded Port Area, covering a total planned area of 9.45 square km, officially started construction. With a total investment of CNY 5bn, Haicang will become the largest and most developed National Taiwanese Investment Zone in mainland China. Xiamen Port has become the largest ore material logistics centre in Asia. Liuwudian Terminal and its large hinterland will be developed into the Haixi Steel and Ore Material Logistics Centre when it starts soon. The Dongdu Port area will become Xiamen’s general cargo centre, providing comprehensive logistics services for light industries, pharmaceuticals and food industries in Xiamen and neighbouring areas. Zhaoyin and Houshi Port Area are located in Zhangzhou and will be developed into fuel and mining material depot and transshipment centres. At present, the planned storage yard will cover an area of 10 square km. Xiamen port cargo throughput is projected to reach 120m tonnes by 2010, while container throughput is to reach 10m TEUs. Dalian Total TEU throughput for 2008: 4,526,000 TEUs up 18.8 percent on 3,810,000 TEUs in 2007 Dalian Port is a natural deepwater port and is China’s largest port for bulk grain and oil import and exports. The port has over 80 modern berths for containers, crude oil, refined oil, grain, coal, chemical products, and other goods. Dalian Port consists of eight port areas, five of which having existed for over 60 years. With the scale-up and specialisation of international vessels, port infrastructure can no longer meet the requirements of the modern shipping industry. Therefore, Dalian Port Group is accelerating the development and construction of new port areas such as Dayao Bay, Nianyu Bay and Dalian Bay. In particular, Dayao Bay Area will become the core port area of Dalian Port and even the surrounding port clusters. The container transport activity of Dalian Port is mainly in the Dayao Bay Port Area, which is one of the four major international deepwater transit ports in China and bears more than 90 percent of the foreign trade container transport of Northeast China. Container terminals along the south shore of Dayao Bay are being built and 18 container berths at Dayao Bay are expected to be completed by 2010, giving Dalian port a handling capacity of 10m TEUs. In the first half of 2009, throughput of Dalian Port mainly depended on the transshipment of ore and oil products, an example of the gradually increasing importance of transshipment in Dalian Port development. In order to expand transshipment business, Dalian Port is building 400,000 dwt oil terminals and is speeding up the reconstruction of its 300,000 dwt ore terminals. Dalian port container terminal handling capacity is predicted to reach 8m TEUs by 2010. Lianyungang Total TEU throughput 2008: 3,000,000 TEUs, up 49.7 percent over 2,003,000 TEUs in 2007 In June 2009, the Standing Committee of the State Council approved
Jiangsu Coastal Development Plan
emphasized the important function of Lianyungang in promoting the coordinated development of all regions. According to the latest
Lianyungang Port Overall Plan
, the main port area of Lianyungang consists of Xugou, Miaoling, Maoyao, Qitai and Dadi port areas, and focuses on containers and the large cargo transit business. Lianyungang is also positioning itself as a regional international hub port linking Qingdao, Shanghai, Japan, Korea and Central Asia. Maoyao, Miaoling and Xugou are main running port areas in Lianyungang, which has a total of 35 berths for containers, gains, coal, ore and chemicals. The port also has over 40 container courses to Europe, America, Middle East, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia. According to the
Jiangsu Coastal Development Plan
, in the future Lianyungang port plans to form a
a centre and two wings
pattern of the principal port area, Xuyu port area in the south, Guanhe port area, Ganyu port area in the north, and Qiansandao port area. Lianyungang port container terminal handling capacity is projected to reach 3.4m TEUs in 2010 and 8m in 2020. Suzhou Total TEU throughput for 2008: 2,570,000 TEUs, up 35.2 percent on 1,900,000 TEUs in 2007 Suzhou Port consists of three areas, each of which has their own distinguished features. The Taicang port area is an important part of Shanghai International Maritime Centre and is a container transportation hub port as well as being the main container trade port in Jiangsu province. Currently, Suzhou port is the biggest manufacturing base of senior lubricant and the biggest LPG manufacturing base in eastern China. The Changshu port area has become one of the biggest import steel bases in the region, while the Zhangjianang port area is the region’s biggest waterage lumber import base. During the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan, Suzhou port is expected to invest CNY 13.5bn in building 35 quay berths and is focussed on the Phase 3 and Phase 4 construction of the Taicang container berth and 200,000 dwt and 150,000 dwt ore berths. Suzhou port container terminal handling capacity is projected to reach 4.5m TEUs in 2010 and 12m in 2020. Yingkou Total TEU throughput for 2008: 2,037,000 TEUs, up 48.7 percent on 1,370,000 TEUs in 2007 Yingkou port is located at the checkpoint of the Bohai Economic Sphere and the Northeast economic region and is the nearest outgoing sea port to the northeast three provinces and the Inner Mongolia hinterland. This location confers many advantages on the port. The Yingkou port is formed by the Yingkou port area, Bayuquan port area and the Xianrendao port area. 85 percent of transportation volume is via internal trade. During the period covered by the 11th Five-Year Plan, Yingkou port is expected to invest a total of CNY 14bn in the construction of 61 berths. On 16 June 2009 the Xianrendao port area opened and a 300,000 dwt crude oil terminal officially began construction. The Yingkou Port Group is expected to finish the construction of the No 54, No 55 and No 56 berths in the Bayuqan port area by the end of 2010. Yantai Total TEU throughput for 2008: 1,532,000 TEUs, up 22.6 percent on 1,250,000 TEUs in 2007 Yantai Port spreads along Jiaodong Peninsula’s 200 km coastline and includes four areas: the Zhifu Bay Port Area, Western Port Area, Penglai Port Area and the Longkou Port Area. The Zhifu Bay Port Area has 48 berths which are mainly reserved for bulk cargos like grain, fertilizers and steel. The Penglai Port Area is specialised in the ore, timber and coal sectors. Longkou Port Area is a comprehensive port area that focuses on coal, ore, bauxite, grain and containers. The Western Port Area is the key project of Yantai Port. According to the plan, the CNY 1.5bn project will cover a water area of 500 square km and include a port operation zone of 24 square km and a port industrial park of 26 square km. The area is to be divided into five sections for oil, the liquid chemical industry, bulk cargo, general cargo and containers. In addition, 65 berths are to be built with a total throughput capacity of 15m TEUs. Nanjing Total TEU throughput for 2008: 1,292,000 TEUs, up 21.9 percent on 1,060,000 TEUs in 2007 Nanjing port is the most favourable port along the Yangtze River for transmitting containers. At present, more than a quarter of containers along the Yangtze River transit through Nanjing, as the port has become a key transit up of the upper stream area of the Yangtze. By 2010, container supply along the river is projected to reach 3.6m TEUs. During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, Nanjing Port will focus on the development of the Longtan and Xiba Port Areas and the reconstruction of the Yizheng and Shenshenxu Port Areas, with the construction of 42 new berths planned. In the coming 5 years, Nanjing plans to invest CNY 12.2bn in new port construction, including 45 1,000 dwt berths along Yangtze River and 170 inland river 300 dwt berths. More specifically, CNY 5bn is to be invested in the construction of the Longtan Phase-4 to 7 projects with an aim to achieve a throughput capacity of 6m TEUs. The Longtan Port Area is at the heart of Nanjing Port. Out of the seven total planned phases of the project, Phases 1-3 have been completed. These include the container port area, general cargo port area, and the bulk cargo port area. The CNY 2.4bn Longtan Port Phase-4, to be completed in 2010, consists of 5 container berths and an annual throughput capacity of 1.2m TEUs. Upon completion, Nanjing port will have 11 additional container terminals and an annual container handling capacity of 3m TEUs. Quanzhou Port Total TEU throughput for 2008: 1,207,000 TEUs, up 18.3 percent on 1,020,000 TEUs in 2007 Quanzhou port is located in the southeast of Fujian Province and now has four port areas: Meizhou Bay, Quanzhou Bay, Shenhu Bay and Weitou Bay. According to the general plan, the Quanzhou Bay Port Area will be developed into a modern logistics port for container, general and bulk cargo, as well as passenger and tourism services. The South Meizhou Bay Port Area is a new project under construction and when completed will be a major oil and chemical industrial base and a multi-functional international transshipment trading port in China. Shenhu Bay and Weitou Bay Port Areas will provide services for local economic development. The Quanzhou Port Authority proposed a new plan, commonly known as the
artificial island
programme, to make an artificial island 5,313 metres long and 600 metres wide. 15 berths are planned on the island with a designed annual cargo handling capacity of 44m tonnes and a container handling capacity of 2.95m TEUs. COSCO Pacific Limited and Quanzhou Port Group are expected to jointly cooperate in the artificial island project. By 2010, Quanzhou Port will have built 37 berths of 10,000 dwt capacity, handling cargos of over 100m tonnes and 2m TEUs. By 2020, the port is projected to have 80 berths of 10,000 dwt, handling cargos of over 200m tonnes and 10m TEUs. Fuzhou Total TEU throughput for 2008: 1,177,000 TEUs, down 2 percent on 1,202,000 TEUs in 2007 Fuzhou Port is formed by the inside Mouth-Bar of the Minjiang River port area, the Songxia port area, the Jiangyin port area and the Luoyuan port area with a total of 118 productive berths. In May 2009, the body construction of No 4 and No 5 berths in Jiangyin port was finished, after an investment of CNY 1.05bn by the Fuzhou Port Group Co. Phase 1 of the construction involved two 50,000 dwt container berths with a total quay length of 667 meters and a projected total capacity of 700,000 TEUs. Construction started in May of 2006 and required three years to finish. At present, the Fujian Communications Department is reportedly attempting to consolidate the Fuzhou and Ningde Ports by the end of 2009. Ningde port is national Category -1 port and is formed by Sandu'ao, Saijiang, Sansha and Sacheng port areas. It has 221 buildable berths and an annual capacity of over 400m tonnes. Among the four port areas, the Sandu'ao port is an ideal harbour site for a large international transportation hub. After the Fuzhou Port hopes that the consolidation of the two ports will optimise resource allocation, and that by 2010 the port will be surpass 100m tonnes earlier than expected. Zhongshan Total TEU throughput for 2008: 1,137,000 TEUs, down 1 percent on 1,270,000 TEUs in 2007 According to the
General Plan for Zhongshan Port
, Zhongshan port will ultimately consist of five areas: Zhongshan, Ma'an, Xiaolan, Huangpu and Shenwan. In order to raise loading and unloading capacity, Zhongshan city plans to invest CNY 2bn to develop the Phase Two construction of Zhongshan port, which is the biggest construction ever in history of the port. This construction product will yield a multi-use port built to the east of Ma'an Island with two new 5,000 dwt multi-use berths and a projected annual capacity of 1.65m tonnes. Phase Two construction of Ma'an port area is the major project in east coastal development by Zhongshan city and also has become an important project for the harbour industry, logistics, energy, and the electricity, power petrochemical industry and steel industries. The plan is divided into two stages. By 2010, Zhongshan port will add two more berths to the existing four while by 2020, the Shenwan port area will consist of nine 1,000 dwt berths with a total loading and unloading capacity of 4.5m tonnes. In accordance with Zhongshan’s 11th Five-Year Plan, by 2010 Zhongshan port cargo throughput will reach 40m tonnes and container throughput will exceed 2m TEUs.