Zhuhai Port rates 15th worldwide and 4th nationwide in growth rate of size and global investment during 2019, according the Shanghai International Shipping Institute.

The international maritime consultation and research institute scored the World's Top 100 Container Ports evaluated by Lloyd's List in 2018 based on four indexes: appeal to cargo sources (40 percent) and investment (10 percent), natural conditions (20 percent), and economic environment (30 percent).

Overall throughput growth of global container ports was weak last year due to multiple factors. To offset the negative influence, Zhuhai Port Holdings Group increased investment and strengthened cooperation with its partners. 

Zhuhai Port [Photo by Zhang Zhou / Guanhai App]

Costing 4 billion yuan ($565 million), construction of the second phase of the Gaolan Port Container Terminal has been roughly completed. Some new berths are already in trial operation as the deep-water shoreline has been lengthened to 4,000 m (4,374 yd). The enterprise also purchased four quay cranes and 12 gantry cranes at a cost of 260 million yuan ($36.8 million), increasing capacity to 3.78 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU).

Meanwhile, the group has added multiple shipping routes based on deepened cooperation with Shanghai PanAsia Shipping and Zhonggu Shipping Group. Transport capability increased by 100,000 tons in 2019, reaching more than 140,000 tons in the shipping sector with the expansion of self-owned fleets.

The enterprise recorded container throughput of 2.68 million TEUs in 2019, up 13.1 percent year-on-year. Containers that transit Zhuhai Port en route to the Xijiang River basin numbered 607,000 TEUs in 2019, an increase of 7.8 percent from the previous year.

Next, Zhuhai Port will continue to become an international hub relying on advantages such as its being on the Xijiang River estuary, proximity to Hong Kong and Macao, direct access to railways, and accelerated construction of key projects such as Phase III of the Gaolan Port Container Terminal.