On July 11, Ningbo Port Office announced a major milestone: the city’s three port areas’ expanded opening and the operational approval of Berths 6-10 at Meishan Port Area have both passed provincial-level acceptance. This lays a solid foundation for achieving national-level approval for the expanded opening within the year and marks the full formation of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port’s new dual “10-million-TEU” capacity pattern. It further consolidates Ningbo’s pivotal role in advancing nationwide east-west bidirectional openness and land-sea connectivity development.
**Highlights Abound: Ningbo Port’s Open Layout Fully Optimized**
The provincial-level approval for the expanded opening of the three port areas involves nine berths across five enterprises in Chuanshan, Xiangshan Bay, and Shipu Port Areas. This will add 58.13 square kilometers of newly opened area, 1,894 meters of open coastline, and nine operational berths to Ningbo, boosting annual container throughput capacity by 620,000 TEUs and cargo throughput capacity by 3 million tons.
The dual “10-million-TEU” capacity pattern of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port has now fully taken shape. Chuanshan and Meishan Port Areas are the core hubs of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and its main container handling zones. Chuanshan has exceeded 10 million TEUs annually for eight consecutive years, while Meishan—the port’s largest container area by coastline length, berth tonnage, and heavy equipment—became its key growth driver, joining the “10-million-TEU club” for the first time in 2024. The official opening of Berths 6-10 signifies the integration of the port’s second “10-million-TEU” zone, elevating Ningbo-Zhoushan Port’s global resource allocation, influence, and competitiveness. From January to June this year, Chuanshan and Meishan handled 5.88 million and 6.35 million TEUs, up 3.1% and 15.2% year-on-year, respectively, accounting for 58.1% of the port’s total throughput.
Meanwhile, Xiangshan achieved a historic breakthrough in port openness. Xiangshan Bay and Shipu Port Areas, central to this approval, marked Xiangshan’s first-ever port opening. Post-opening, Xiangshan County will gain 57.83 square kilometers of open area, 1,564 meters of coastline, and eight berths, with all waters east of Xiangshan Bay Bridge becoming accessible. This ends Xiangshan’s lack of port history, fills the southern gap in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port’s openness, and injects momentum into Ningbo’s national marine economy demonstration zone.
Additionally, Ningbo’s port functionality has been further enhanced. Beyond specialized container berths, the approval covers outfitting docks, dry docks, general cargo berths, and heavy-lift transport berths. Notable projects include Ningbo’s sole live fish export and edible aquatic import hub, Zhejiang’s largest minor trade port with Taiwan, and its exclusive ship repair/construction port. These additions address Ningbo’s shortage in bulk cargo and shipyard capacity while supporting industries like portside equipment, new energy, modern cold-chain logistics, and fisheries. For instance, Xiangshan Bay’s Xinle Shipyard will enable local direct exports of Ningbo-built ships, cutting costs by over 300,000 yuan per vessel.
**Multi-Pronged Efforts: Driving High-Level Openness Efficiently**
Ningbo Port Office established a tri-level collaboration mechanism involving enterprises, local governments, and inspection units, focusing on key approval stages and bottlenecks to innovate and expedite openness.
The office pioneered a “Four Ones” approval model: one task force for execution, one meeting to clarify requirements, one checklist for full-process management, and one approval to boost efficiency. This ensures closed-loop management from planning to results, streamlining the process.
A phased temporary opening strategy was adopted, enabling “operational readiness upon completion.” Chuanshan Berth 1 and Meishan Berths 6-10 were temporarily opened early, unleashing their capacity ahead of schedule. To date, Meishan’s Berths 6-10 have hosted over 4,200 international vessels and handled 20 million TEUs, while Chuanshan Berth 1 served 744 ships with 770,500 TEUs. With Ministry of Transport support, Xingang Terminal’s decade-long temporary opening facilitated 1,347 vessel calls, 284,000 tons of cargo, and $830 million in trade, boosting Xiangshan’s live fish exports and shipbuilding.
Moving forward, Ningbo’s port system will continue leveraging its role as a “key coastal hub, strategic material gateway, and modern regional air port” to enhance global and national openness. By further optimizing layouts, it aims to better serve national strategies like the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Yangtze Delta integration, as well as Zhejiang’s high-level openness goals.
