HAIKOU, September 5. /TASS/.
Hainan's Yangpu district is intended to become a major international port hub for container shipping by 2025. That task was set in one of the documents adopted by the Chinese government, which concerns the construction of a new western land-sea route.
By mid-2021, the container turnover of Yangpu port reached 565,000 TEU (the equivalent of a standard 20-foot container), which is 56.7% higher than in January-June 2020. A system for registering container ships from abroad was also established in this port, and the efficiency of the center for refueling ships with fuel stored in customs warehouses was increased.
The document adopted by the State Committee for Development and Reforms of the People's Republic of China provides for the improvement of the port and its waterways, the improvement of the loading and unloading system, as well as building up the port's potential as an international container transshipment point. The project also provides for the expansion and construction of individual port berths and the creation of an integrated infrastructure for the delivery of goods, including by rail.
Yangpu is located in the city of Danzhou (northwest of the island), administratively it directly subordinates to the provincial authorities. It provides about 45% of Hainan's foreign trade and about 20% of foreign investment attracted by the province. This port zone of special economic development plays an important role in boosting China's transport network: in accordance with the plan of the Chinese government, by 2035, Yangpu will become a key point for the distribution of cargo flow from various regions of the country to Southeast Asia and Oceania, Europe and North America. By 2025, it is expected to become a transport hub of regional importance, through which up to 5 million containers will pass annually.
According to official statistics, in 2020, mainly thanks to Yangpu, the island provided 103,000 tonnes of duty free fuel for refueling more than 160 big Chinese and foreign ships.