Despite the impact of the pandemic, container throughput of Shenzhen Port exceeded 21.49 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) from January to October, up 0.25 percent over the same period last year, realizing positive growth, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Transport Bureau.
Shenzhen Port mainly serves as a container port and is the fourth-largest container port in the world.
Shenzhen Port consists of Yantian, Nanshan and Dachan Bay container ports, with 45 berths. Eight of them can accommodate containers up to 200,000 tons. Ultra-large container ships with the capacity of more than 18,000 TEUs have previously docked at Shenzhen Port, which is the first choice in southern China for the ultra-large container ships.
Shenzhen Port now serves 229 international shipping routes, connecting more than 300 ports in over 100 countries and regions. The container throughput of Shenzhen Port reached 25.77 million TEUs in 2019, up 0.13 percent year on year.
An official with the city’s transport bureau said that sending out and receiving foreign trade goods is the outstanding feature of Shenzhen Port. The container throughput for goods on European and American routes accounts for 40 percent of all foreign trade goods shipped through Shenzhen Port, which make up more than 93 percent of the whole amount of the port.
Therefore, Shenzhen Port suffered significant impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic early this year. In the first half of the year, the container throughput decreased by 10.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
But now the delivery capacity has resumed and realized a positive growth of 0.25 percent year on year to 21.49 million TEUs in the first 10 months.
Shenzhen took actions through several measures to boost the development of the port and shipping industry and published a systematic plan for the industry in September. Shenzhen Port aims to become a high-quality transfer port for international trade by 2025.
Shenzhen Port will continue the use of clean energy and the development of intelligent port by making use of 5G and block chain technologies.