China News Service, Danzhou, September 9th, Title: Chasing Dreams of China· Overseas Chinese Seeing Free Trade Port: Yangpu Port Links the World
Author Zhang Yuehe
"It's hard to imagine that Yangpu International Container Terminal, with its numerous gantry cranes and constant traffic of international cargo ships, was a barren land 40 years ago." Standing on the viewing platform on the top floor of Yangpu International Container Terminal Co., Ltd., looking at the busy and orderly modern container terminal not far away, Liu Zhenning, the editor-in-chief of "Thailand Chinese News Agency·Thailand Today" who came to visit with the "Dream China· Overseas Chinese Sees Free Trade Port" 2026 Overseas Chinese Media Hainan Interview Tour event, said with emotion.
Yangpu is located in the northwest of Hainan Island. It is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has the closest natural deep-water port in the Beibu Gulf to the international main shipping routes. In 1992, Yangpu Economic Development Zone was formally established, becoming China's first foreign-invested development zone.
Since the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, Yangpu has entered a new stage of open development. The country's first tax refund business for domestically built ships engaged in international transportation, the country's first domestic and foreign trade same-ship transportation ship refueling bonded oil business, the country's first processing value-added domestic sales duty-free business, the Hainan Free Trade Port's first foreign-funded international ship naturalized "China Yangpu Port"... The first business has been implemented frequently, and Yangpu strives to build a "model room" for the Hainan Free Trade Port.
Today, Yangpu Port is an international hub port radiating to Southeast Asia and connecting to the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West. It is building a "two-way dual hub port" (i.e., the southern hub port for China's domestic north-south routes, and the eastern hub port for the east-west routes from Southeast Asia to North America). Among the 62 navigation routes of Yangpu International Container Terminal, there are 36 foreign trade routes and 8 domestic and foreign trade same-ship routes, covering ports in the Pacific and Indian Ocean. In the first half of this year, the container throughput of Yangpu Port increased by 49.91% year-on-year.
The "China Yangpu Port" shipping port policy is one of the core opening policies of the Hainan Free Trade Port that has attracted widespread attention from the outside world. Recent public data shows that as of August 18, "China Yangpu Port" has 101 registered ships, with a total shipping capacity of more than 8.9 million deadweight tons, continuing to lead the country's free trade zones (ports). Among them, since the Hainan Free Trade Port closed customs operations, 24 new ships have been registered, with an additional shipping capacity of 1.464 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 41.18% and 43.73% respectively, and the development momentum is rapid.
During this Hainan interview trip, media people at home and abroad also learned that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Hainan will comprehensively promote the Yangpu regional international container hub expansion project, public grain and oil terminals, dangerous goods terminals and other projects, build new productive berths, and simultaneously promote the upgrade of waterways and anchorage supporting facilities.
Chen Yang, mayor of Danzhou City, deputy secretary of the Yangpu Economic Development Zone Working Committee and director of the Management Committee, said at a press conference held by the Hainan Provincial Information Office earlier this month that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the reform of the "China Yangpu Port" shipping system will be deepened, the "two-way dual hub port" strategy will be implemented in depth, and new land and sea connections in the west will be promoted The international shipping hub has been basically completed. By 2030, the number of registered international ships in "China Yangpu Port" will exceed 120, with a total deadweight tonnage of 12 million deadweight tons; the number of domestic and foreign trade routes will exceed 80, the container throughput will exceed 8 million TEUs, and the cargo throughput will enter the ranks of large ports with a capacity of 100 million tons.
