China News Service, Ningbo, November 10 (Xi Jinyan, Li Yaoqi) According to news from Zhejiang Seaport Group on November 10, the container throughput of Ningbo Zhoushan Port once again exceeded 40 million TEU this year, 22 days earlier than last year.
The busy Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. Photo courtesy of Zhejiang Seaport Group
A number, crossed again. Against the background of profound adjustments to the global economic and trade pattern and accelerated restructuring of the international supply chain, what does it mean to continuously exceed 40 million TEUs?
Goods come from all directions
The prosperity of ports always resonates with the pulse of economic development.
In the first three quarters of 2026, China's import and export of goods trade reached 39.94 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%. Exports of integrated circuits, electric vehicles, lithium batteries and other products maintained rapid growth. The scale of foreign trade continues to expand and the export structure is new and optimized, which not only brings abundant supply of goods to the port, but also puts forward higher requirements for the timeliness and stability of the channel.
Ningbo Zhoushan Port continues to extend its service network inland. As of now, there are 115 sea-rail combined transport lines in Hong Kong, covering 16 provinces and 71 prefecture-level cities across the country. The annual sea-rail combined transport business volume has exceeded 1.8 million TEUs.
Sea-rail trains circulate back and forth, allowing efficient connections between the hinterland and the sea.
In the "World Supermarket" Yiwu, a batch of new energy vehicle spare parts took a sea-rail intermodal train and was connected to sea transportation through Ningbo Zhoushan Port. The fastest time from delivery to sea can be compressed to 8 hours, truly realizing "getting off the train and boarding the freighter".
And such passages are extending further away.
In July this year, a train carrying 47 containers and about 1,700 tons of cargo departed from Aksu, Xinjiang, spanning 4,910 kilometers, and arrived at Ningbo Zhoushan Port. Through the "one-box direct" model, goods do not need to be changed or unpacked midway. Inland goods that once needed to be transported multiple times now have a stable and convenient eastbound sea channel.
At the same time, inland shipping has added 5 new routes this year, with access points increasing to 48, and transportation volume exceeding 1 million TEUs. Sea-rail and river-sea intermodal transport have been coordinated, and the port service hinterland has continued to expand.
New energy vehicles, photovoltaic modules, power batteries and other high value-added products are accelerating their overseas exports, and imported fresh food, industrial parts and other materials continue to gather. The growth in port throughput reflects the coordinated operation of the upstream and downstream industrial chains and is a solid step for China's manufacturing to go global.
The boat goes to all the seas
Ships gather here and load cargo from here to sail to the world.
Currently, Ningbo Zhoushan Port has more than 310 container routes, connecting more than 700 ports in more than 200 countries and regions around the world, and its port connectivity index ranks second in the world. From Southeast Asian near-ocean routes to European and American ocean trunk lines, from traditional shipping channels to innovative logistics express lines, a shipping network that covers the world and is linked internally and externally continues to extend.
This year, the China-Europe Arctic Express has entered the normal operation stage and has completed 8 voyages during the navigation season. Container ships loaded with high value-added products such as energy storage cabinets, power batteries, and photovoltaic modules depart from Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and pass through the Arctic Northeast Passage. They can reach Europe in about 20 days one way, which is nearly half the voyage length of the traditional Suez Canal route. At the same time, the number of shipping express lines has increased to 28, the number of "Zhejiang e-Port Link" service points has increased to 28, and the port channels and service network have continued to expand.
The denser and denser the routes are, which means that enterprises have more market choices and better logistics routes. It also means that the supply chain has more room for maneuver in the face of changes in the international economic and trade environment and disturbances in shipping channels.
At the "2026 World Mayors Dialogue·Ningbo" event held just last week, guests from 15 countries and 20 cities visited Ningbo Zhoushan Port to learn about port construction, international logistics and smart development. When talking about port cooperation, a representative of Tamatave City in Madagascar said that being able to establish direct shipping links with Ningbo Zhoushan Port “is a very big guarantee for us.”
The voices from different countries and different port cities reflect the same expectation - smoother trade channels, more stable supply chain connections, and broader space for cooperation.
Hong Kong stands strong
The continued growth in container volume requires not only a broad market and dense routes, but also a sufficiently strong port carrying capacity.
The confidence for port development comes first from hard-core infrastructure. Ningbo Zhoushan Port has more than 220 deep-water berths with a capacity of over 10,000 tons, and has built the world's only double "10-million-box-level" single container terminal cluster. The deep-water coastline, professional berths and collection and distribution facilities support each other, providing a solid guarantee for the port's throughput capacity to continue to increase.
Port space is still expanding outwards. On Liuheng Island across the water from Meishan Port Area, two 200,000-ton container berths in the first phase of the Fodu Container Terminal project in Liuheng Port Area are under construction, supporting the creation of Ningbo Zhoushan Port's third "10 million container-level" container berth group.
If infrastructure expands the physical space for port development, then smart transformation continues to break through the efficiency boundaries of port operations.
In the Meishan Port area, a container truck drove through the unmanned smart checkpoint. The entire process of vehicle identification, information verification, and barrier lifting took only two seconds. From entering the port to loading and heading out to sea, the fastest time was less than half a day; in the remote control operation room not far away, the bridge crane driver controlled the equipment through the screen and handle; in the yard, more than 130 smart container trucks moved in an orderly manner. Relying on the self-developed "dual-core brain" of the terminal, intelligent collaboration is achieved in ship stowage, truck dispatching, equipment operation and other aspects, and port production has transformed from single-piece equipment automation to full-process collaboration to improve efficiency.
The improvement in efficiency is also reflected in the turnover speed of each ship. By strengthening multi-party collaboration with customs, maritime affairs, border inspection and other port units and shipping companies, the non-operating time of container ships in Ningbo Zhoushan Port has continued to decrease. "In the third quarter of this year, ship berthing efficiency increased by 4.5% year-on-year; in September, the port's average daily container operation volume exceeded 140,000 TEUs, and 4.27 million TEUs were completed in a single month, which is the highest level in history." Lian Sheng, director of the Ningbo Zhoushan Port Dispatch Center, said.
From deep-water shorelines to specialized berths, from smart equipment to precise dispatch, the continuous improvement of infrastructure and the continuous improvement of operational efficiency have jointly supported the continued growth of port scale.
Another 40 million TEUs is the clear coordinate for a new round of jump of Ningbo Zhoushan Port - the jump is not only the throughput, but also the energy level and potential of the port. Facing the future, Ningbo Zhoushan Port will continue to work hard in serving the national strategy and smoothing the domestic and international dual circulation, and steadily climb towards the goal of building a world-class port.
