Container throughput growth is strong, and the 'gold content' is sufficient to provide multidimensional insights into the accumulation of international logistics capabilities

CCTV News: Port throughput is a barometer of foreign trade. According to Shenzhen Customs, as one of the world's largest single container terminals, Yantian Port's container throughput from January to August reached 10.593 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 9.6% and a historic high.

In the morning, the 20 deep-water berths at Yantian Port were filled with international cargo ships, and container trucks loaded with containers were shuttling through the yard one after another. As one of the world's largest single container terminals, Yantian Port undertakes over one-third of Guangdong's foreign trade import and export volume. Since 2025, the port throughput scale has significantly increased.

Zhong Yang, the head of the Monitoring Department of Dapeng Customs under Shenzhen Customs, introduced that from January to August 2025, the container throughput of Yantian Port will reach 10.59 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%, reaching a historical high. Among them, the monthly throughput in August was 1.52 million TEUs, breaking the record for the highest monthly throughput since the opening of Yantian Port for two consecutive months.

As of now, Yantian Port has added 14 new international routes by 2025. September is the peak season for foreign trade every year, and recently Yantian Port has been particularly busy.

Sun Xuling, Deputy General Manager of the Business Department of Yantian International Container Terminal, introduced that there are now 100 shipping routes connecting major trade channels such as North America, Latin America, Europe, and Southeast Asia to the world every week. There are 10 daily cargo ships sent to Europe and America, providing an efficient and convenient logistics channel for goods to be transported to the European and American markets. Recently, it has been quite busy.

CCTV Finance Review: Container throughput growth rate reflects significant value

Not only Yantian Port in Shenzhen, but also Shanghai Port and Zhoushan Port in Ningbo have maintained strong growth in container throughput in August. What does this mean?

Wei Liang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Macroeconomics and Strategy at the China Institute of Modern International Relations, said that the recent high throughput and growth trend of these ports is very gratifying.

Container throughput is one of the core indicators for measuring the demand for international trade in ports. Shanghai Port is the world's first port with an annual container throughput exceeding 50 million TEUs. Judging from the current growth rate, Ningbo Port is also expected to become a port with a throughput of over 50 million TEUs by 2025. These two ports are a microcosm of China's container transportation, highlighting the value of China's economic development.

This data reflects the growing strength of China's international logistics capabilities. Among the top 30 container ports in the world, Chinese ports account for 12 seats, a proportion that other countries do not have. Especially in the context where about 95% of China's import and export trade is completed by sea, it demonstrates China's pivotal position in the global supply chain.

Furthermore, from this growth rate, it can be seen that international logistics capabilities and the construction of supply chains with China as an important node mutually promote each other. The manufacturing industry in China accounts for over 98% of the total export value, and the containers transport some high value-added products. This is highly consistent with the transformation and upgrading of China's economic structure and manufacturing industry, and also reflects China's manufacturing advantage in the global market.

CCTV Finance Review: Technological Empowerment Makes' Port Economy 'an Important Application Scenario

What kind of support does our country's port throughput maintain strong growth in terms of technological innovation?

Financial commentator Xu Junming stated that one is the empowerment of technology, which has made port economy a very important application scenario, in addition to some emerging service formats.

The most important thing for ports now is efficiency, with automation accounting for over 88% of large-scale container loading and unloading equipment in Tianjin. From a global perspective, there are less than 50 ports that can achieve full automation, with non automated ports accounting for over 95%. This is a manifestation of the spillover of automation technology in many manufacturing industries in our country.

The "hardcore" confidence of Shanghai Port comes from the addition of AI to two automated terminals, Yangshan Phase IV and Luojing Container Port Area. The comprehensive digital twin has added a "brain" to the port, doubling the overall operational efficiency. The efficiency improvement has made the port favored by international shipping companies.