As an economic powerhouse, China’s financial influence and strength can’t be underestimated. China is the world’s number one exporter, far ahead of the United States in second place by nearly 50%.
That means it’s no surprise that seven of the world’s top ten ports are located in China. If you want to ship to or from China, you need to know about China’s ports.
However, mainland China has a coastline of 18,400 kilometers and more than 150 ports. I can’t introduce you to all of them in my post, so I’ll just show you the major China ports.
Here are the top 10 major China ports:
Port of Shanghai
The Shanghai Port, which has been operating as a port of commerce since 1842, is the largest port in China and the world. It has been at the top of the list since 2010 when it overtook the port of Singapore.
Shanghai has been designated as one of the four largest port megacities in the world due to the large volume of trade that passes through the port and its impact on the local population. It is a deep sea and river port.
The port has established containerized cargo trade with more than 500 ports in over 200 countries and regions. It now has more than 80 international shipping lines.
The water area of Shanghai Port is about 3620.2 square kilometers, consisting of four areas: Huangpu District, Yangtze River District, Hangzhou Bay District, and Yangshan Deep Water District.
Yangshan Deep Water Port is known as the world’s largest automated container terminal. It is also strategically located near the neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
The main cargo types of Shanghai Port include containers, coal, metal ores, petroleum, and its products, steel, mining and construction materials, machinery and equipment, etc.
Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan
The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port rose from third place to become the second busiest port in China last year and the third busiest in the world.
Meanwhile, the port completed 1.224 billion tons of cargo throughput in 2021, up 4.4% year-on-year, ranking first in the world. Container throughput reached 31.08 million TEUs, up 8.2% year-on-year, ranking third in the world.
In addition, the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is located on the east coast of Zhejiang Province, including Beilun, Ningbo, Zhenhai, Daxie, and Chuanshan five port areas. Historically, it is an important international trade port and maritime transit hub.
At the same time, the port is less affected by monsoons with Zhoushan Islands as a natural barrier. The number of operating days is over 350 days a year. Therefore, if you choose to ship from this port, the monsoon will not be a worry for you.
The port is the largest distribution port for mega-ships in China and one of the nodal ports for ocean shipping in the world.
And it is the main transshipment and storage base for containers, ores, crude oil, and liquid chemicals in mainland China.
Port of Shenzhen
Another major China port, the Shenzhen Port ranks third among the world’s largest container ports. The port is located in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong. As one of the busiest ports, it has great potential for development.
Container ships from China trade here both locally and overseas. The port is a group of ports located along the coast of Shenzhen. The total length of the coast is 260 km.
The port is home to about 40 shipping companies, which operate more than 130 global container routes.
Thousands of electronics manufacturers have set up factories. That is why the port of Shenzhen is known for its high-tech stores in the surrounding area.
About 25 million people work in the electronics industry. Foreigners who buy from Shenzhen factories find it easy to ship from this port.
The Shenzhen Port aims to build a modern, safe, and environmentally friendly world-class port. It consists of three main ports: Yantian Port, Nanshan Port, and Da Chanwan Port. They all focus on container transshipment and overseas trade.
Port of Guangzhou
The Guangzhou Port is one of the busiest ports in mainland China and is the seaport of the Pearl River Delta. It is managed by Guangzhou Port Group Company and is the largest southern port in China.
The port trades with more than 80 countries and over 300 ports. It has merged with the regional seaport of Huangpu to become one of the largest integrated ports.
The port is well connected by rail, road, air, and inland waterways. It is located on the Dongjiang, Beijiang, and Xijiang rivers and is connected to the surrounding industrial centers.
The Guangzhou Port has more than 4,500 berths and 2,400 anchorages. It is adjacent to the base of Nansha Wetland Park. There are large storage spaces, bonded warehouses, customs checkpoints, and logistics centers.
Commonly transported goods include agricultural products, foodstuffs, industrial goods, machinery, oil, fertilizers, steel ore, minerals, auto parts, etc.
Port of Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Port used to be the number one port in the world. However, since it was ousted in 2004, it has been slipping in the rankings. Despite the decline in throughput, the port is still one of the largest ports in China.
The port is a deep sea port located in the South China Sea. This is a key factor in Hong Kong’s economic development. The deep water gives the port ideal conditions for berthing and repairing all types of ships.
It is one of the busiest ports in the world, both for transporting cargo and for transporting passengers. This fact makes Hong Kong a symbol of container transport.
The Hong Kong Port has container yards and cargo terminals with a total terminal area of about 279 hectares. In total, the nine container terminals can handle more than 19 million TEUs.
The west coast of Tsing Yi Island is home to a number of floating dry docks. Small shipyards near the port perform repairs and build specialized vessels for the export market (e.g. patrol boats and yachts).
Port of Qingdao
The Qingdao Port is located on the shore of the Yellow Sea, across the sea from Japan and the Korean Peninsula, and is ranked sixth in China. It is also an international trade port and transit hub for China along the Yellow River basin and the west coast of the Pacific Rim.
The port has 116 productive berths, which can accommodate ships of all sizes. The operational efficiency of containers, iron ore and other cargoes remains the first in the world.
With more than 170 container lines, the density of the lines is the highest among the ports in the north. Its sea-rail intermodal transport routes cover the whole country and go directly to Central Asia and Europe.
In 2019, the volume of sea-rail intermodal container transport reached 1.39 million TEU. This makes it rank first among China’s coastal ports.
The Qingdao Port has four zones: Dagang Port, Zhonggang Port, Huangdao Oil Port, and Qianwan Port. Each area handles operations autonomously.
Port of Tianjin
The Tianjin Port, known as Tanggu Port, is the largest port in northern China and the main sea access port of Beijing Port. With a land area of 121 square kilometers, 31.9 kilometers of quay shoreline, and 151 berths, it is the largest artificial port in the world.
The port has container and non-container cargo operations, port auxiliary services, and bunker sales for all incoming vessels. It has 115 regular container lines and also has a large shipyard that can build and repair large ships.
Tianjin’s proximity to Beijing, combined with its port location, makes it an excellent transportation and shipping hub.
The port has the advantage of being a multi-purpose port due to its natural location, its large population, and the fact that it is the center of some of China’s most important development projects.
The Tianjin Port is divided into nine areas, mainly the Beijing, South, and East rivers. Locks and tidal barriers help ships move while protecting the port from harsh weather conditions.
Port of Dalian
The Dalian Port is located at the entrance of Bohai Bay. It is a deep-water port in northeastern Liaoning Province, China, and the largest port in northeastern China.
Its position as the second largest container transshipment hub in mainland China facilitates trade to and from the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to connecting ports in more than 160 countries, the port serves seaports in northern and eastern Asia and the Pacific Rim. It is the northernmost unfrozen port in China and, in terms of size, one of the five largest unfrozen ports in the country.
Unlike the increasingly international Tianjin Port, the port still relies heavily on traditional heavy industries such as coal. However, after the establishment of the Liaoning Free Trade Zone, analysts have listed Dalian as a growth point.
The Dalian Port is mainly engaged in handling, storage, and transportation services for crude oil, refined oil products, and liquid chemicals, including passenger services.
Port of Xiamen
The Xiamen Port is one of the major China ports, located on the coast of Fujian. It is a busy Fujian port on the East China Sea and the maritime entrance to Fujian, which is located at Kinmen Bay in the southeastern part of Fujian Province.
The port has both an internal and external port serving trade within and outside Fujian Province. It also handles the transportation of goods by ship to the neighboring Jiangxi Province.
The Xiamen Port has 165 berths. The port has 76 berths of 10,000 tons or more. It has 17 berths of 100,000 tons and 5 berths of 200,000 tons. Since 2019, it has had a throughput of 217 million tons.
The port has opened more than 145 container routes, including 92 international routes and 57 routes to countries along the Maritime Silk Road.
There are 12 domestic cargo import and export off-shore lines. It has 42 domestic trade lines. It is the nearest port to Taiwan.
Port of Yingkou
The Yingkou Port, the second largest port in the Northeast after Dalian, is also a major import facility for parts of Mongolia. Its main types of cargo include grain, sugar, minerals, coal, steel, and automobile imports.
The port has a history dating back nearly a thousand years and is primarily engaged in river and coastal trade. However, international shipping activities really began in 1858.
In the last two decades, many investments have been made to develop the port, including the construction of a container terminal at the Mackerel Port. In 2015, it entered the list of the top 50 global container ports.
In 2016, the port signed a strategic partnership with Russian Railways to build a jointly operated international terminal and logistics center in Russia.
The main imports here are coal, steel, automobiles, and grain. The main export commodities are containerized cargo, machinery parts, mass-produced goods, electronics, and food products.
Conclusion
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