Recently, the reporter learned from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transport that in 2017, the province is expected to complete a port cargo throughput of 1.97 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. Infrastructure expansion projects such as terminals and waterways are progressing smoothly, high value-added port and shipping services and headquarters economy are well cultivated, and consensus on regional port integration development has been further reached.
As a basic industry of the national economy and a frontier for regional coordination and cooperation, the healthy development of the port and shipping industry is of great significance for promoting the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Relying on policies such as the Pilot Free Trade Zone, Guangdong's port and shipping industry is innovating and forging ahead, actively drawing a beautiful blueprint for the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Accelerating Port and Shipping Capacity Expansion and Upgrading
Consolidating Software and Hardware Foundations
In recent years, Guangdong Province has accelerated the implementation of port and shipping capacity expansion and upgrading, consolidating the hardware foundation for the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In 2017, the main works of projects such as the Xijiang Waterway Capacity Expansion and Upgrading were completed, projects such as the Beijiang Waterway progressed smoothly, and 7 projects including the container terminal in the West Operation Area of Yantian Port Area of Shenzhen Port were completed.
“As one of the core cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in 2017, Guangzhou Port achieved a historic breakthrough. Its container throughput exceeded 20 million TEUs for the first time, reaching 20.37 million TEUs; cargo throughput was 590 million tons; and commercial vehicle throughput was 1.11 million vehicles.” introduced Chen Hongxian, Party Secretary and Director of the Guangzhou Port Authority. Liner companies such as Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company, CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping, Evergreen, PanAsia, Antong, and Zhonggu all opened routes in Guangzhou Nansha, with international container liner routes reaching 91, an increase of 39 in three years. Cruise companies such as Star Cruises chose Nansha as their home port. In 2017, the number of tourists at Guangzhou's cruise home port grew to 400,000, a year-on-year increase of 24%.
In terms of the development of port and shipping soft power, ports in Guangdong Province have established 68 sister port relationships. Guangzhou successfully won the right to host the 2019 (31st) World Ports Conference. The comprehensive competitiveness and international influence of Guangdong's ports are continuously improving.
Developing Major Cooperation Platforms
Gathering New High-End Port and Shipping Formats
On July 1, 2017, witnessed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation and Promoting the Construction of the Greater Bay Area was officially signed. The agreement proposes to support the construction of major cooperation platforms, advance the development and construction of major Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao cooperation platforms such as Shenzhen Qianhai, Guangzhou Nansha, and Zhuhai Hengqin, fully leverage their experimental, demonstrative, and leading roles in further deepening reform, expanding opening-up, and promoting cooperation, and replicate and promote successful experiences.
At present, Guangzhou Nansha has accumulated 310 innovative achievements in the free trade zone, continuously optimizing the business environment, and has formed five leading industries: shipping logistics, high-end manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation, financial business, and tourism and health. In October 2017, Guangzhou Nansha issued the “1+1+10” industrial policy system, covering policies for seven key development industries. Among them, the shipping logistics industry development policy comprehensively supports the development of Nansha's shipping logistics industry through 16 support measures, including headquarters enterprise awards, settlement awards, business contribution awards, route awards, container subsidies, logistics subsidies, warehousing subsidies, talent awards, cross-border e-commerce subsidies, and parallel import vehicle subsidies.
Since the free trade zone was established in 2015, Nansha has accelerated the construction of the main carrier area of Guangzhou International Shipping Hub and the core functional area of the International Shipping Center. Shipping enterprises have rapidly gathered, with the total number of registered shipping logistics enterprises reaching 4,770. Fifteen shipping logistics headquarters enterprises, including the global headquarters of COSCO Shipping Bulk, the headquarters of COSCO Shipping Wind Power, and the regional headquarters of Vipshop, have settled in Nansha. The headquarters economy will bring sustained momentum to the development of Guangzhou's port and shipping industry. Shipping services have developed rapidly. Relying on the Guangzhou Shipping Exchange, a total of 2,540 ship transactions have been completed, with a transaction value of 9.33 billion yuan. Supporting shipping financial services represented by the Nansha Shipping Industry Fund have been initially established. It has been approved as the “Guangdong Nansha” international ship registration port of registry. The international maritime service industry is constantly growing, and industries such as international seafarer training, competency certification, seafarer management, and customs talent exchange will be further developed. In addition, Guangzhou Nansha has become the second-largest port for parallel imported cars in the country; international cruise passenger throughput ranks third in the country; and cross-border e-commerce BBC imports have nearly doubled.
Complementary Advantages and Resource Sharing
Promoting Integrated Regional Port Development
Strengthening the international gateway hub functions of Guangzhou Port and Shenzhen Port, and promoting the integration of the Pearl River Delta port cluster and the coordinated development of the port clusters in eastern and western Guangdong, are among the key tasks of Guangdong's transportation system in 2018.
Regarding the policies for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the development of the shipping logistics industry, Yu Zenggang, Vice General Manager of COSCO Shipping Group, suggested at the recently held 5th China Shipping 50 Forum Annual Meeting and the First Greater Bay Area Port and Shipping Logistics Development Forum: “Support for port business policies should be increased, such as promoting the breaking of administrative regional concepts between ports through government guidance, forming mutual coordination among regional ports, and turning competitive relationships into cooperative relationships.”
It is understood that at present, the coordinated development of port resources within Guangdong Province is being carried out in an orderly manner. In December 2017, Guangzhou Port Group and Dongguan Port Group signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Guangzhou. The two sides will take the construction of the Greater Bay Area as an opportunity to jointly build a Guangzhou-Dongguan shipping system with complementary advantages and resource sharing, and create a world-class hub port area.
This is the first time that Guangzhou and Dongguan have proposed to accelerate the integration of port resources, promote the implementation of port integration, create a combined port of Guangzhou-Dongguan, and realize the integration of port resources of Guangzhou Port and Dongguan Port. The two sides will accelerate major projects such as the public waterway project around Dahu Island of Guangzhou Port, share shipping resources such as routes, jointly optimize the customs clearance efficiency and hardware facilities of Guangzhou Port and Dongguan Port, and increase the proportion of manufacturing enterprises in the Pearl River Delta region importing and exporting goods through the two ports. They will jointly improve the navigation environment of the Pearl River waterway and promote the implementation of Guangzhou-Dongguan port integration.