A view of Ningbo Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

The Ningbo municipal government recently unveiled a five-year development plan for Ningbo Zhoushan Port.

According to the plan, the city will strive to turn Ningbo Zhoushan Port into a world-class port that plays a more prominent role in bolstering the nation's "dual-circulation" strategy, the development of Yangtze River Economic Belt and the integrated development of Yangtze River Delta region, by 2025.

The port's cargo throughput is targeted to reach 1.3 billion metric tons and maintain its position at the top of the global rankings, while its container throughput is expected to be 35 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the third highest in the world.

Ningbo also aims to increase the containers transported at the port by the sea-rail combined model, which refers to the mechanism where goods are first loaded onto trains to Ningbo before being transported overseas by sea, to above 1.7 million TEUs by 2025.

In addition, the government will sustain its efforts in expanding the port;s shipping network and raise the number of international shipping routes to 265 by 2025.

Efforts to improve the port's shipping service capacity and turn it into a national logistics hub for bulk commodities including oil, gas and metallic minerals will be intensified.

Support will be provided to develop the port into an important base for exports and imports of vehicles via "ro-ro" (roll-on/roll-off) ships, in East China.

The city aims to handle over 500,000 vehicles via "ro-ro" ships at the port by 2025, according to the plan.