12 major ports in China – import and export of goods

12 major ports in China – import and export of goods

Port shipping has long been a cornerstone of economic development, accounting for 80% of global trade. Chinese ports have played a significant role in this development, with eight of the world’s top ten largest ports located in China.

Today, China is one of the world’s leading shipping countries, manufacturing and transporting a vast array of goods through its ports to countries around the globe.

If you are seeking to ship goods to or from China, it is important to be familiar with the country’s ports. However, with over 150 ports along its 18,400 km mainland coastline, it is not feasible to provide a comprehensive list of ports in this post. Instead, I will highlight the top 12 major ports in China below.

1. Port of Shanghai
2. Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan
3. Port of Xiamen
4. Port of Guangzhou
5. Port of Shenzhen
6. Port of Hong Kong
7. Port of Dalian
8. Port of Tianjin
9. Port of Yantai
10. Port of Qingdao
11. Port of Rizhao
12. Port of Lianyungang

In this document, I will present an overview of the twelve major ports in China, divided into northern and southern regions. Within each region, the ports will be listed from north to south. To begin, I will introduce the major southern ports, which are among the top ten largest ports in the world.

Regarding port costs, typically the cost of southern ports in China is lower than that of northern ports. Additionally, port size often affects the cost, as larger ports tend to have lower fees.

Major South China Ports

The Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan ports are both located in the Yangtze River Delta and are responsible for exporting goods from nearby provinces including Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu.

Port of Shanghai

The port of Shanghai is currently the busiest seaport in the world, having held the title of the largest container port in the world for 12 years since 2009. In 2016, Shanghai Port handled 702 million tons of cargo and 37.13 million TEU containers. By 2018, the cargo throughput of Shanghai Port had ranked second in the world.

Shanghai Port has established container cargo trade with over 500 ports in more than 200 countries and regions, with over 80 international shipping routes.

Located at the throat of the Yangtze River, the port has a strategic location that connects the north and south coasts of China, the Yangtze River Basin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui inland rivers, and Taihu Lake basins.

Covering an area of approximately 3,620.2 square kilometers, Shanghai Port consists of four zones: Huangpu, Yangtze, Hangzhou Bay, and Yangshan Deep Water.

Due to its proximity to the industrial and manufacturing hubs in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, the port of Shanghai is highly attractive to businessmen from around the world. It is convenient to ship cargo from this port if you plan to wholesale nearby.

The main cargo categories of Shanghai Port include containers, coal, metal ores, petroleum and its products, steel, mining construction materials, machinery, and equipment.

Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan

The port of Ningbo-Zhoushan has been the largest port in the world in terms of cargo throughput for 13 years.

In 2021, Ningbo-Zhoushan port completed a cargo throughput of 1.224 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%, ranking first in the world. The container throughput reached 31.08 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%, ranking third in the world.

Ningbo-Zhoushan port, located in the east coast of Zhejiang, includes five port zones: Beilun, Ningbo, Zhenhai, Daxie, and Chuanshan. It is an important port for international trade and a maritime transit hub in history. As one of the four major international deep-water transit ports, Ningbo-Zhoushan port is mainly developed and supported by the Chinese government.

The port takes Zhoushan Islands as a natural barrier, which is less affected by the monsoon. The number of operational days in the whole year is more than 350 days. So if you choose to ship from this port, you won’t have to worry about the monsoon.

The water depth of the port channel is more than 18.2m, supporting berths of all sizes. There are 311 productive berths, including 64 deep-water berths above 10,000 tons (33 super large deep-water berths ranging from 50,000 to 250,000 tons). It is the largest distribution port for China’s super-large ships and one of the ocean transportation node ports in the world.

It is the main transit and storage base for containers, ores, crude oil, and liquid chemicals in China Mainland. And it is also the main transit and storage base for bulk cargoes such as coal and grain in East China.

Ningbo-Zhoushan port and Shanghai port are among the best. Still, Ningbo-Zhoushan port is full of confidence in its future development.

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Port of Xiamen

Xiamen port is the major port in Fujian Province China and is located on the southeast coast of China and the West Bank of the Taiwan Strait, at the estuary of Jiulong River. It is not only the one-class international port in China but also the 14th biggest port in the world.

What’s more, the port of Xiamen is an important node port of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. And it opens 157 container line routes, including 99 international routes, 12 internal branch lines, and 46 domestic trade routes. In 2021, it recorded a cargo throughput of 227.5 million tons and a container throughput of 12.0457 million TEU.

In March 2022, Xiamen port built 176 productive berths. Among these, there are 78 berths for ships above 10,000 tons. And it has special terminals for containers, cruise ships, oil, and coal, with a maximum capacity of 200,000 tons.

The next three ports are Guangzhou Port, Shenzhen port, and Hong Kong port. They are located in the Pearl River Delta. If you buy from nearby provinces such as Guangdong, Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, sellers usually ship goods from the factory to these ports directly. It will be convenient and cost-effective for them.

Port of Guangzhou

The port of Guangzhou is one of China’s busiest ports, with a history of international trade spanning over 1,000 years. It is located at the mouth of the Pearl River and is the largest comprehensive main hub and container port in South China. Guangzhou port is also in close proximity to the South China Sea and adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao. The Dong River, Xi River, and Bei River converge here into the sea. Furthermore, the port is surrounded by manufacturing and industrial hubs.

Guangzhou port has opened 131 international container liner routes and reached a cargo throughput of 636 million tons in 2020, ranking fourth in the world and first in China. In addition, Guangzhou port has connections with over 400 ports in more than 100 countries and regions in the world. It mainly deals in oil, coal, grain, chemical fertilizer, steel, ore, cars, machinery, food products, containers, and more.

Port of Shenzhen

The Port of Shenzhen is one of the world’s largest ports and often ranks next to the Shanghai port or Ningbo-Zhoushan port. It is located in the south of the Pearl River Delta, at the estuary of the Pearl River and adjacent to Hong Kong. The port is divided into eight port zones and has eight container berths with a capacity of 200,000 tons. Around 80% of the world’s container ships with a berthing capacity of more than 10,000 TEU berth in Shenzhen port.

In 2020, Shenzhen port’s container throughput reached 26.548 million TEU, ranking fourth in the world and third in China. Shenzhen port has opened over 200 international container liner routes, covering 12 major shipping areas in the world and connecting to more than 300 ports in over 100 countries and regions. The cargo of Shenzhen port is mainly containers, but it also deals in chemical fertilizer, grain, feed, sugar, steel, cement, wood, gravel, oil, and ore.

Port of Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a major natural deep-sea port in China and a shipping center in the Far East. Though it belongs to China, Hong Kong is a special region with its own administration. Hong Kong is a free trade port, with all goods except four types (alcohol, tobacco and cigarettes, hydrocarbon oil, and methanol) enjoying zero tariffs. This can save you money if you ship from the port.

Hong Kong is one of the busiest and most efficient international container ports in the world, with more than 80 international liners providing about 500 container liner services every week. Hong Kong port has 15 port zones, with the Victoria port zone being the largest and having the best conditions. The internal channel of Victoria port zone has an average depth of more than 10 meters, enabling large cargo ships to enter the wharf and the area of loading and unloading at any time. Moreover, Hong Kong has not only container terminals, but also special terminals for oil, coal, and cement. The port rate of Hong Kong is among the lowest in the world, and there are more than 20 sea routes leading to nearly 1000 ports in more than 120 countries and regions in the world. About 10 million passengers come and leave Hong Kong every year.

Hong Kong ranks among the world’s largest ports in terms of cabin tonnage, cargo handling capacity, and passenger traffic.

Major North China Ports

The next three ports: Tianjin port, Dalian port, and Yantai port are all located in Bohai Bay. If you buy goods from North China, such as Tianjin, Liaoning, Hebei, and Shandong, generally they will be sent to your country from one of these ports.

Port of Dalian

The Port of Dalian is a northern, ice-free, deep-water port located in Dalian Bay at the southern end of Liaodong Peninsula. It serves as the maritime gateway of the region into the Pacific Ocean and the world. Dalian Port has a water area of 346 square kilometers and can handle a container capacity of 16 million TEU. In 2017, Dalian Port achieved a cargo throughput of 451 million tons.

Dalian Port has more than 100 modern professional berths for containers, crude oil, refined oil, bulk ore, grain, and coal, and more than 70 berths for ships above 10,000 tons. In addition, Dalian Port has a professional ore wharf of 350,000 tons and a transfer wharf of 150,000 tons. With the 550,000 square meters of storage yard, the port can hold 8.5 million tons of ore at one time.

Dalian Port has established shipping relations with more than 300 ports in over 160 countries and regions around the world. The port has also opened 75 international container routes and has become one of China’s major ports for container sea rail intermodal transport and maritime transit. Dalian Port is well connected by rail and road, making it convenient to ship to the port even if your cargo is in some inland place.

Dalian Port is mainly engaged in the loading, unloading, storage, and transportation services of crude oil, refined oil, and liquid chemicals, including passenger transport services, etc.

Port of Tianjin

The Port of Tianjin is the largest in North China and has ranked among the top ten in the world for many years. Tianjin Port is the largest artificial one in China. In 2021, the container throughput of Tianjin Port exceeded 10 million TEU. In the first quarter of 2022, the container throughput reached 4.627 million TEU, a year-over-year increase of 3.5%, recording the best in the same period in history.

Tianjin Port has a strategic location and is located at the western end of the Bohai Bay, connecting Northeast Asia and central and Western Asia. It is also the maritime gateway of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. Moreover, it is the eastern starting point of the China Mongolia Russia economic corridor, an important node of the new Eurasian Continental Bridge, and the strategic point of the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.

There are five port zones in Tianjin Port: Beijiang port zone, Nanjiang port zone, Dongjiang port zone, the southern area of Port Economic Zone, and the eastern area of Nangang port zone. It has over 200 berths for vessels of all sizes and usage, and the total length of the public berth coastline is about 14.5km, allowing many ships to wait here at the same time.

Tianjin Port lasts for 3 months, and the maximum port-freeze period is from mid-January to mid-February. The width of fixed ice along the coast is generally within 500m, and the ice thickness is 10-25cm, up to 40cm. That will not affect the shipping business in channels and ports. So you can ship from this north port even on the coldest days.

Port of Yantai

The Port of Yantai is located on the north side of the Shandong Peninsula in China and is the core of the Northeast Asia international economic circle. Yantai Port is one of the 25 important hub ports along the coast of China and is also an important node of the new Eurasian continental bridge connecting Japan and South Korea to Europe.

Yantai Port is composed of Zhifu Bay port zone, West Port zone, Penglai port zone, Longkou port zone, and Shouguang port zone five zones, and it has formed the railway, highway, waterway, and pipeline “four in one” transportation network. The main business of Yantai Port includes passenger logistics, containers, pipeline transportation, liquefied oil products, bulk groceries, and passenger logistics. It carries out trade across over 100 countries and over 450 ports through sea shipping.

Yantai Port is a promising port and aims to enter the ranks of the world’s top ten coastal ports in 2025.

Port of Qingdao

The Port of Qingdao is located on the Yellow Sea and is across the sea from Japan and the Korean Peninsula. It ranks 6th globally and is China’s international trade port and transit hub along the Yellow River Basin and the West Bank of the Pacific Rim.

In 2019, Qingdao Port handled 515 million tons of goods and 21.01 million TEU of containers. The port cargo throughput ranked sixth in the world with 1.154 million TEU in 2018. Qingdao Port has 116 productive berths allowing all sizes of ships. Its operation efficiency of containers, iron ore, and other goods remains the first in the world. It has more than 170 container routes, and the route density ranks first among ports in northern China.

Its sea rail intermodal transport line covers the whole country and goes directly to Central Asia and Europe. In 2019, the sea rail intermodal transport container traffic reached 1.39 million TEU, which makes it rank first among coastal ports in China.

Qingdao Port has four zones: Dagang Port zone, Zhonggang port zone, Huangdao Oil Port zone, and Qianwan port zone. Every zone deals with the business autonomously.

Qingdao Port is mainly engaged in loading and unloading services of various import and export goods such as containers, coal, crude oil, iron ore, and grain, as well as international and domestic passenger transport services.

Port of Rizhao

Rizhao Port is located in Shandong Province like Qingdao Port and is adjacent to the Yellow Sea in the East. Rizhao Port is the major ice-free deep-water port in China.

The cargo throughput of Rizhao Port ranks among the top ten ports in China. In the first half of 2018, Rizhao Port Group completed a throughput of 194 million tons, accounting for 50.8% of the annual plan of 380 million tons, ranking 8th in China’s coastal ports and 11th in the world ports at that time.

At present, the whole port has five major port zones: Rizhao east zone, Rizhao middle zone, Rizhao West zone, Lanshan zone, and Lanshan north zone, with 28 productive berths.

The port transports cargo such as iron ore, oil and liquid chemical, coal, bulk grain, wood, nickel ore, steel, coke, cement, and so on. It also involves container and passenger liner transport.

Port of Lianyungang

The Port of Lianyungang is located on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean and the coast of China’s Yellow Sea and has a distance of 500 nautical miles from the main ports of South Korea, Japan, and other countries. It is China’s main coastal hub port and the important port for energy outward transportation. It is also the starting point of the east end of the New Silk Road.

The port of Lianyungang is the most convenient and economical seaport in central and Western China. So it is a good choice if your cargo is nearby.

Lianyungang Port has many berths of over 10000 tons for the container, ore, coke, coal, bulk grain, and liquid chemical industry. In 2019, it reached a cargo throughput of 244 million tons and a container volume of 4.78 million TEU.

Conclusion

Except for the China ports, you need to know the shipping time and the shipping cost and other things if you want to import from China.

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