China News Service, June 30. Vice Minister of Transport Li Xinghu stated on the 30th that in 2025, China’s port cargo throughput reached 18.3 billion tons, container throughput reached 354 million TEUs, and the Chinese-funded shipping fleet capacity reached 490 million deadweight tons, all ranking first in the world.
On June 30, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on promoting the high-quality development of water transport. At the meeting, Li Xinghu, while introducing the relevant situation of high-quality water transport development, stated that water transport is an important component of the comprehensive transportation system. In 2025, China’s waterway cargo turnover approached 15 trillion ton-kilometers, accounting for more than half of the comprehensive transportation system, providing strong support for serving and safeguarding economic and social development and the implementation of major national strategies. Since the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China’s water transport industry has achieved historic accomplishments and breakthrough progress.
First, water transport infrastructure has reached a new level. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, 469 new berths of 10,000-ton class and above were added nationwide, now reaching 3,061. Three world-class port clusters in the Bohai Rim, Yangtze River Delta, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have been basically established. The mileage of high-grade waterways increased by 2,500 kilometers, reaching 18,500 kilometers. A number of major projects such as the Pinglu Canal were implemented. The 6-meter deep water channel regulation project on the Yangtze River mainline from Wuhan to Anqing was completed, the construction of the new Three Gorges water transport channel was initiated, and bottlenecks and blockages in inland waterways are being accelerated.
Second, transport services have achieved new breakthroughs. China’s international maritime shipping volume accounts for one-third of the global total. In 2025, China’s port cargo throughput was 18.3 billion tons, container throughput was 354 million TEUs, and the Chinese-funded shipping fleet capacity was 490 million deadweight tons, all firmly ranking first in the world. Among the top 10 ports globally in cargo throughput, 8 are Chinese ports; among the top 10 ports globally in container throughput, 6 are Chinese ports. Reflecting with more intuitive figures, daily port cargo throughput in China exceeds 50 million tons, and container throughput exceeds 970,000 TEUs. Daily vessel entries and exits at ports reach 98,200 vessel trips, including 1,236 international voyages. Meanwhile, inland waterway vessels show a clear trend towards standardization and larger sizes, with an average tonnage of 1,982 tons, an increase of 37.4% compared to 2020. In 2025, national ports completed 13.49 million TEUs of rail-water intermodal container transport, nearly doubling compared to 2020.
Third, transformation and upgrading have taken new steps. A total of 60 automated terminals have been built and put into operation nationwide, including 30 automated container terminals, accounting for 27% of the global total. The fastest single-machine operating efficiency at the automated terminals of Shanghai Port and Qingdao Port exceeds 60 natural containers per hour, representing the highest level of port handling efficiency in the world. The average port stay time for international container ships at major coastal ports is 1.7 days, 0.64 days less than major foreign ports. At Xiamen Port, the port stay time for container ships does not exceed 1 day. The published mileage of national electronic navigation charts has reached nearly 20,000 kilometers, basically forming a “one map” of the Yangtze River waterway electronic navigation system connecting main and branch lines and integrating rivers and seas. Chinese-funded shipowners possess over 1,500 new energy and clean energy vessels, ranking among the top in the world in terms of scale.
Fourth, openness and cooperation have opened new horizons. A total of 74 bilateral and multilateral maritime transport agreements have been signed, establishing the first formal maritime cooperation mechanism with an African country. Efforts are underway to promote the establishment of an International Green Shipping Corridor Alliance and advance cooperation on 22 international green shipping corridors. The construction of the Maritime Silk Road has achieved remarkable results. The completion and operation of the Chancay Port in Peru has become a landmark achievement of the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2025, China was re-elected as a Category A member of the International Maritime Organization for the 19th consecutive time with the highest number of votes.
Fifth, governance capacity has reached new levels. Important laws and regulations such as the “Maritime Code,” “Maritime Traffic Safety Law,” and “International Maritime Transport Regulations” have been revised. A total of 245 technical standards for water transport engineering have been issued. A nationwide mutual recognition system for ship inspection has been implemented, allowing over 10,000 ships to apply for, undergo, and receive certification for operational inspection locally, saving social costs of over 150 million yuan. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the China Classification Society. Through the efforts of generations of ship surveyors, the total fleet tonnage surveyed by the China Classification Society has reached 220 million gross tons, ranking fifth in the world and placing it among the world’s first-class classification societies. China’s maritime search and rescue capabilities have been significantly enhanced. The emergency response time within key waters up to 100 nautical miles offshore is no more than 90 minutes, with the air rescue radius extended to 200 nautical miles and the search radius reaching 500 nautical miles.
Li Xinghu stated that looking ahead, during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China’s water transport industry will enter a new stage of modernization development, characterized by a leap forward in building world-class ports, a critical period for strengthening the connectivity of the inland waterway system, and a key period for constructing an international maritime transport safety development system. The Ministry of Transport will anchor the strategic goal of accelerating the building of a strong transportation nation, follow the development approach of “one network, four modernizations,” closely focus on improving the modern comprehensive transportation system, and strive to promote integrated integration, safety enhancement, digital and intelligent upgrading, and green transformation. It will accelerate the construction of a modern water transport system, providing strong support for achieving decisive progress in basically realizing socialist modernization.
