Shanghai Port

cctv.com 12-22-2003 15:23

In 1978 Shanghai port was 30 years behind other international ports, but in only 25 years it has not only caught up but become the third largest container port in the world. How did Shanghai port manage this achievement, and where is the port likely to go in the future?

Shanghai, the largest city in China, is also famous in foreigners' eyes as an oriental metropolis. Shanghai's cosmopolitan atmosphere today has its roots in a long history as a center for trade dating back to 960 AD. Shanghai was compelled to open up to westerners as a treaty port at the end of the First Opium War in 1843. This new status as a treaty port was only the start for Shanghai. The main impact of this "opening" came through the establishment of foreign concessions, which brought Shanghai into direct contact with the outside world. From this passive opening 160 years ago, Shanghai, with Shanghai port as its window, is today acting more positively and is well on the way to becoming an international shipping center.

The first phase of construction of the Yangshan deep-water container port will be completed by the end of the 10th Five Year Plan in 2005. The new port will allow access to the sea for fifth generation and sixth generation container ships, which can carry between 5,000 and 6, 000 20-foot containers, and this will increase the city’s capacity for maritime cargo transport.

November 30 was a special day for Shanghai as well as for China's shipping industry. On that day, Shanghai Port handled more than 10 million standard containers, making Shanghai Port the third largest container port in the world after Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Singapore. This is a major step towards the aim of building up the port into an international shipping center.

Lu Haihu, President of Shanghai International Port Group, said, "We've already witnessed the development of Shanghai Port from the Huangpu River to the southern bank of the Yangtze River. Now it is expanding offshore and into the Yangshan deep-water harbor areas. That's one big change. In the second place, the port was originally a restricting factor on the growth of the national economy, but after several years of continuous growth in its handling capacity, the port is now basically able to meet the needs of local economies depending on the port. Thirdly, our loading and unloading equipment used to lag far behind, but today, with advanced equipment, including info-management technology, the port, especially its management, is counted as one of the best in the world."

Shanghai Port lies at the estuary of the Yangtze River and in the middle of China's long coastline, and is the largest port on the Chinese mainland.

Opened in 1884, Shanghai Port has developed over the past century into a port well known throughout the world and one of the centers of international trade. The development of Shanghai Port is closely connected with the development of the metropolis itself. In response to economic globalization, Shanghai Port has speeded up its development of container transportation, especially since the 1990s. In the period 2001-2005, over 10 billion yuan was invested in port construction. Over 80 percent of the investment was used to build new container ports or expand existing ones. At present, Shanghai Port contains 24 container berths, and the scale and facilities of the port, as well as its management and services, are of international standard. This has been conducive to the economic development of Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta area.

Yu Shicheng, President of Shanghai Institute of Shipping, said, "We believe the development of Shanghai Port will encourage further development of the Yangtze River Delta area and vice versa. So, the expansion of Shanghai port is not just its own business, it is the business of the Yangtze River Delta area; it also serves as a model for the shipping sector in our country in opening to the outside world."

In 25 years'time growing to be the third largest container port in the world, the speed of development of Shanghai Port is a global miracle.

Shanghai Port started in the container transportation business in 1978. That year it handled a mere 2000 standard containers, but the figure surged to 1 million in 1994, and 5 million in 2000. So far this year it has handled 10 million, an increase of 2 million over last year.

The annual handling capacity of import and export goods in Shanghai port exceeded 100 million tons for the first time in 1984 and is expected to surpass 300 million this year.

Unlike Hong Kong which is an international port, the development of Shanghai Port has largely relied on the domestic market transferring goods from rivers to the sea over the past few years. Taking advantage of its geographical location, the port is the pivot of a domestic container-shipping network with 40 other ports from the north to the south of China, and has forged a partnership with more than 10 shipping companies in this region.

In January this year, the Shanghai Port Bureau was transformed into the Shanghai International Port Group, targeting the international market. It is the largest port group in China, with a broad range of services and advanced management technology.

A modern container logistics center was built in the Waigaoqiao region of Shanghai Port, forming a transportation network which combines land routes, waterways, railways, and airports. A sophisticated networking system and an Electronic Data Interchange center have helped improve services and management at the port.

Chen Haiqin, Staff of Shanghai East Container Dock Corp., said, "Our gate is at present the most advanced domestically, and counts as No. 1 or 2 in the world. It takes only 45 seconds for the IC card to finish its work of weighing, examining and loading."

Gates in and out of the docks remain a bottleneck for many ports. Shanghai port was no exception, but it relied on its own scientific personnel and worked out ways of solving this problem.

Hu Weikang, Dept. Director of Waigaoqiao Dock, Shanghai Port Container Group, said, "This control center for large enterprises was the first in the country to be set up. The merit is we can soon detect where there is any malfunction in the loading process. Engineers can immediately rush to the spot to get things fixed."

At the beginning of the 1990s, the loading and unloading of 30 million tons of goods had to rely on the labor of several thousand hands. Compared with international container ports, this would have corresponded to at least a 30-year gap. Today, the same volume of goods requires only 400 or 500 people. The fastest speed is 355 containers per hour, another world record. The 30-year gap has basically disappeared.

Shanghai Port Container is the largest listed port company in China. It coordinates exchange and cooperation with all the ports along the Yangtze River waterway and is involved in investment and operation of container docks in other ports in this area.

Over 80 shipping companies from home and abroad have set up shipping businesses in the port. More than 1400 domestic and foreign regular shipping routes depart from the Shanghai port every month. The port has become an ideal place for international competition in the shipping trade. The Shanghai Port Group works with many departments such as the Shanghai customs office, the frontier defense department, the maritime affairs office in order to build a safe and convenient "green lane."

At present, container ships depart Shanghai for over 400 ports around the globe. Shipping companies from Southeast Asia, the United States, South America, Europe, Japan and many other countries have opened shipping routes at Shanghai Port. The world’s top twenty shipping companies have all set up business in this port and have formed strong partnerships with their Chinese counterparts.

Lu Haihu also said, "We believe the goal of building this old port into an international one will be achieved in our generation."

With a solid basis for development already in place, Shanghai Port still faces many challenges, such as the lack of deep-water ports. The resources of Waigaoqiao and Yangshan ports need to be integrated. Shipping experts say that favorable policies from the government are still needed to really solve some of the existing problems. The construction of the Yangshan deep-water port, one of the largest port projects in the world, is already under way. Shanghai port is well on the way to becoming an international shipping center and will play a greater role in ensuring sustainable and rapid economic growth for China.

Editor:Zhang Wenjie  Source:CCTV.com