New Ideas Lead a New Journey | Accelerated Construction of a Modern Port Injects Surging Momentum into the Regional Economy

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that ports are fundamental and pivotal facilities, and important supports for economic development. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, my country set its sights on accelerating the construction of world-class port clusters, continuously optimizing the functional layout of ports, and enhancing their comprehensive service capabilities, delivering a high-quality development performance. Today, the construction of modern major ports is accelerating, the port economy is booming, and it is injecting surging momentum into regional economies.

Giant ships connect seamlessly, reaching all corners of the world. Looking at China today, bustling ports operate in an orderly manner. In the first 11 months of 2025, the country's ports handled 16.75 billion tons of cargo, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%; and 320 million TEUs of containers, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, of which foreign trade container throughput increased by 9.5% year-on-year.

A strong economic nation is inevitably a strong maritime nation and a strong shipping nation. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to the construction of modern ports, conducting numerous in-depth inspections and research trips to ports, and drawing up a blueprint for port development in the new era. The General Secretary emphasized the need to continuously improve port operation and management capabilities and comprehensive service capabilities, enabling them to play a greater role in my country's comprehensive opening-up and the Belt and Road Initiative. He also stressed the importance of continuously promoting port transformation and upgrading and resource integration, optimizing port functional layout, and enabling them to play a greater role in promoting coordinated regional economic development and building a modern industrial system. These important instructions have pointed the way for my country to build multifunctional, comprehensive, and modern major ports.

Zhao Nan, Director of the Port Development Institute of the Shanghai International Shipping Research Center: Under the care and guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping, our country's ports have transformed from simply serving as loading and unloading terminals into crucial functional platforms for logistics, trade, and driving the development of downstream industries, achieving integrated development of ports, industries, and cities. We must follow General Secretary Xi Jinping's requirements for high-quality port development, further enhance the radiation and service efficiency of ports, and play a greater role in serving national economic development.

The 14th Five-Year Plan outlines the goal of accelerating the construction of world-class port clusters. my country has issued guidelines on accelerating the construction of smart ports and smart waterways, and on strengthening the planning and construction of coastal and inland river ports and waterways in the new era. With the support of these policies, the number of berths capable of handling vessels of 10,000 tons or more has increased by 379, bringing the total to 2,971; the navigable mileage of high-grade waterways has increased by 1,600 kilometers, reaching a total of 17,600 kilometers. Currently, Chinese ports have established shipping routes with more than 200 countries and regions, making China a global leader in maritime connectivity.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, my country's port throughput repeatedly reached new highs, its throughput capacity was further enhanced, and the scale of its port infrastructure continued to rank first in the world. At the same time, port service levels continued to improve, the number of large and specialized berths increased, and the smart and green transformation proceeded in an orderly manner. From Tianjin Port's first "smart zero-carbon" terminal to Shanghai Port's first systematic renovation of an old terminal, more and more port terminals are incorporating smart technologies. my country ranks first in the world in the number of automated terminals already built and under construction, a number of (near) zero-carbon ports are being rapidly established, and the application of new energy and clean energy, as well as the proportion of green logistics, continue to grow.

Over the past five years, my country's port cluster system construction has yielded initial results, forming several world-class port clusters in the Bohai Rim, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Multimodal transport has achieved remarkable progress, strongly supporting stable economic growth. At Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, the world's largest port in terms of cargo throughput, the shipping network has become increasingly dense, with more than 60 new international routes added during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, bringing the total to over 250. Zhejiang Province, with Ningbo-Zhoushan Port as its core, is accelerating the construction of comprehensive logistics nodes in Yiwu, Zhoushan, Jiaxing, and other areas, improving sea-rail, river-sea, and sea-river intermodal transport, and forming a new pattern of coordinated development between seaports, inland river ports, and dry ports. At the Yiwu (Suxi) International Hub Port, seaport functions have been moved to the inland railway station; goods entering here are essentially entering Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, further improving logistics efficiency.

Xia Liangliang, Deputy Manager of the Business Department of Zhejiang Seaport Logistics Group: We have opened a total of 111 sea-rail intermodal transport routes, covering 69 prefecture-level cities in 16 provinces across the country. Standing at the new starting point of the "15th Five-Year Plan", we will improve the multimodal transport network, enhance the level of import and export facilitation, strive to build a world-class strong port, and make greater contributions to national development.

Transportation corridors drive logistics, logistics drives trade, and trade drives industry. Today, ports are linked together like pearls on a string, presenting a new pulse of economic development. The "15th Five-Year Plan" proposed to build a modern infrastructure system and improve a diversified and resilient international transportation corridor system. Various regions are further integrating the advantages and resources of coastlines, ports, industries, and towns to empower the open economy and play a greater role in strengthening the domestic economic cycle and facilitating the smooth flow of domestic and international dual circulation.