Opening the map of China's coastline, Ningbo Zhoushan Port is a masterpiece from the perspective of God. It is located in the middle of the coastline of mainland China. It happens to be at the intersection of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road". It holds the industrial cluster of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Circle with its left hand and the global trade network with its main channel on its right hand, with unique location advantages.

What is even more rare is the gift of nature. The water depth of the main channel of the core port area is more than 22.5 meters. 300,000-ton giant ships can enter and exit the port freely, and super giant ships above 400,000-ton can wait for the tide to enter and exit. It is not only the port where the most large ships in China are entering and exiting, but also one of the few deep-water ports in the world.

"All Chinese businessmen, Goryeo and Japanese men to China were accepted and sent to China, only Qingyuan (the old name of Ningbo) was accepted and sent." Looking back on history, Ningbo Port was once one of the oldest and busiest ports in China, and was designated as the only hub in Jiangnan that connects domestic and foreign trade.

Today, this historical glory is given new connotations.

In 2015, Ningbo Port and Zhoushan Port were officially integrated and integrated, breaking the homogeneous competition that the two ports had previously fallen into due to overlapping hinterlands and similar functions. Through scientific planning, the two ports have formed a staggered division of labor system, releasing the energy of "1 1>2" in "resonance in the same frequency and performing their duties". In 2017, it became the world's first port with an annual cargo throughput exceeding 1 billion tons.

The density of the shipping network means the radiation force of the port.

More than 300 container routes, like more than 300 arteries, closely connect Ningbo Zhoushan Port with more than 600 ports in more than 200 countries and regions around the world. Among these routes, there are both ocean trunk lines directly to basic ports in Europe and the United States, as well as near-ocean branches covering Southeast Asia, and also characteristic routes connecting countries that jointly build the "Belt and Road" to truly weave a shipping trade network that "ports to the world".

Ningbo Zhoushan Port’s ambition is not only about connecting the river and the sea, but also about connecting the inland. By building a sea-rail intermodal transport network, it extends the port tentacles to the vast hinterland.

In 2024, Ningbo Zhoushan Port completed container sea-rail intermodal transportation business volume of more than 1.8 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of double digits, setting a record high; the number of fixed trains increased to 27, radiating to 16 provinces and 67 prefectures and cities across the country, allowing inland cities to borrow ports to go overseas.

Behind the hard-core strength, the blessing of wisdom is inseparable.

On the track of smart ports, Ningbo Zhoushan Port has accelerated and currently has the world's only automated container terminal for mixed line operations of over 10 million and the world's only automated bulk terminal for offshore operations of 400,000 tons.

These two are the only ones in the world, which shows that this Oriental Port is smart enough.

Unmanned container trucks shuttle along preset routes, remotely controlled bridge cranes accurately load and unload goods, and the intelligent system optimizes every operation link in real time. This is not a sci-fi movie scene, but a daily routine here.

Smart changes bring about a significant improvement in efficiency.

In November 2024, the annual container throughput of Meishan Port District exceeded 10 million TEU for the first time, and Ningbo Zhoushan Port has thus become a port with two "10 million box-level" single container terminals.

If geographical advantages are the innate endowment of Ningbo Zhoushan Port, then the grasp of opportunities in the times reflects its acquired efforts.

Faced with new changes in the foreign trade market, Ningbo Zhoushan Port has shown keen adaptability and innovation capabilities.

In the export boom of "new three" (new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic products), it has created the "sea-iron express line China-Europe Express" dual-fast model, and has also innovatively launched the "stacked-rohan" car stacking method - through special brackets and three-dimensional stacking, the container that could only be loaded with 2 vehicles could be loaded up to 5 vehicles, and the transportation cost of bicycles was reduced by up to 60%, paving the fast lane for China's new energy vehicles to sail to sea.

The global leadership for 16 consecutive years has never been a coincidence of being born strong, but an inevitability of self-breakthrough.

With the official approval of the "Ningbo Zhoushan Port Master Plan (2035)", this big port carrying the glory of history and the mission of the times is accelerating its move to a world-class strong port with stronger momentum and delivering a better hard-core answer in the national strategic blueprint.

("Sanlihe" Studio)