Shipping ports in China - statistics & facts
Since China began to reform and open-up their economy over the last three decades, the nation’s ports have expanded substantially and served as key nodes in the global transportation network. Driven by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), announced in 2013, to boost China’s international investment and trade cooperation, ports have become strategic hubs for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (or One Road). Significant funds have been invested in transport and logistics sectors, such as advancing port infrastructures, strengthening cooperation between ports, increasing shipping routes and maritime logistics, as well as providing access to intermodal water and land transport corridors. Correspondingly, China's ports and shipping industry have increased their capacity, operating performance, and competitiveness. In 2021, the cargo throughput of China’s seaports has grown to nearly 10 billion metric tons, and that of inland river ports has increased to 5.6 billion metric tons. In addition, China has the world’s largest container port system, with seven of the world's ten busiest container shipping ports located along China's coastline—namely the ports of Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. During the year 2021, the total container throughput in China’s coastal ports amounted to 249 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), and another 33 million TEUs of containers were handled in the inland river ports.
