Smart Ports Help China Consolidate its Booming Foreign Trade

In recent years, China has been vigorously developing smart transport and logistics as it pushes to build world-class smart and green ports.

As the world’s largest trader of goods, China’s foreign trade reached a new high in the first half of this year, providing more momentum for economic recovery.

China has eight of the world’s top 10 busiest ports in terms of cargo throughput and seven of the world’s top 10 ports in terms of container throughput.

Automated container cranes and driverless transport vehicles are busy unloading and carrying containers at Tianjin Port in Tianjin Municipality, north China.

Smart port construction, which incorporates technologies such as 5G, AI, autonomous driving, and cloud computing, has completely transformed Tianjin Port. The port now stands as the world’s first intelligent zero-carbon terminal.

The smart terminal increases the operating efficiency of a single gantry crane by more than 40 percent and reduces labor costs by 60 percent.

In recent years, China has been vigorously developing smart transport and logistics as it pushes to build world-class smart and green ports.

In addition to Tianjin Port, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, the world’s busiest port in terms of cargo throughput, has also ridden the wave of intelligent port construction.

“About 90 percent of China’s foreign trade is shipped by sea. The development of smart ports will enhance operational efficiency and significantly contribute to the growth of China’s foreign trade,” said Lin Yikun, an official from the China Communications and Transportation Association.

As the world’s largest trader of goods, China’s foreign trade reached a new high in the first half of this year, providing more momentum for economic recovery, official data showed Friday.

The trade volume of goods expanded 6.1 percent year on year to 21.17 trillion yuan (about 2.97 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, according to the General Administration of Customs.