Ningbo-Zhoushan Port cements ties with Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui

A container ship berths at the Jintang Port Area in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, on Nov 29, 2018. [Photo/IC]

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang province has been cementing cooperation with Shanghai city, Jiangsu province and Anhui province - key parts of the Yangtze River Delta region - in port business in recent years to enhance its role in YRD integration.

The eastern coastal port, sitting at the converging point of China's south-north shipping channel and the Yangtze River, serves as an important hub for river-sea intermodal transport in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and enjoys close links with Shanghai, Jiangsu and Anhui.

"We have cargo terminals in Taicang and Nanjing cities of Jiangsu, and business partnerships with Shanghai, Jiangsu and Anhui," said Jiang Wei, board secretary of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group.

The world's largest cargo port teamed up with Shanghai Port - the world's largest container port - on Feb 19 to jointly develop a part of Yangshan Port in the Small Yangshan Island in Zhoushan, a move that fully leverages both port's advantages in promoting YRD economic development, officials said.

Wanfang Dock in Taicang, owned by Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, is China's largest wood terminal, said Jiang, adding that the dock has expanded business to many provinces along the Yangtze River Economic Belt such as Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui.

Statistics showed that the dock handled nearly 4.89 million cubic meters of wood last year, up 20 percent year on year. Its cargo turnover totaled nearly 7.69 million metric tons that year.

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port has also developed river-sea intermodal transport services in Anhui, with cargo train routes launched in many of the province’s cities since 2015, delivering goods to households in Anhui.

According to official data, the port handled more than 50,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo heading to Anhui in 2018, 40,000 of which were sent to Hefei, the capital of the province, a year-on-year increase of 40 percent.