The Tide Surges, the Eastern Wind Blows Strong—"Waterborne China" Series Report: East China Sea Chapter

Transportation is the lifeblood of the economy and the bond of civilization. Water transport, an ancient mode of transportation, sails from the river of history toward the blue horizon.

In ancient times, early humans hollowed out wood to make boats; during the Yuan Dynasty, the Grand Canal connected the north and south; in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He's fleet sailed with high sails and great speed. Today, automated terminals operate efficiently, and intelligent ships cut through the waves. For thousands of years, water transport has been a continuous thread, driving the vitality of China's economy and carrying the dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Overlooking China's water transport map, great rivers run east to west, and the coastline stretches north to south.

The Yangtze River and Pearl River, two golden waterways, nourish the hinterlands along their routes. The Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea embrace vast territories. Mountains and seas are interconnected, waterways crisscross, sketching the grand layout of China's water transport.

The East China Sea coastline starts from Qidong Point in Jiangsu in the north and extends to Tielu Port in Zhao'an, Fujian, in the south. The 5,700-kilometer-long coastline connects coastal provinces such as Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian, making it a strategic hub for land-sea coordination.

The mighty Yangtze River rushes here, merging into the vast ocean and opening inland access to the sea. The ancient canal passes through, connecting the north and south, bridging the past and present. The East China Sea is the central hub where water and sea networks converge, the frontier gateway for inland openness, facing the Pacific Ocean and connecting the world, continuing to write the legend of the times through the fusion of ancient and modern.

Striving for World-Class Excellence, Competing for Global Leadership

Building a world-class strong port is a heartfelt expectation of General Secretary Xi Jinping. It provides fundamental guidance for the high-quality development of China's ports and the strategic goal of maritime strength. By 2025, among the world's top ten ports by cargo throughput, China will occupy eight spots. Notably, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, Shanghai Port, and Suzhou Port will rank first, second, and eighth globally, respectively, becoming vital forces supporting global trade and logistics.

As the world's first super port to surpass an annual cargo throughput of 1.4 billion tons, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port will reach 1.432 billion tons by 2025, maintaining its position as the global leader for 17 consecutive years.

Massive ships shuttle back and forth, fully automated terminals operate in an orderly manner, and 45 tons of goods are handled here every second. Ningbo-Zhoushan Port has over 210 berths for ships above 10,000 tons, including more than 140 berths for ships above 50,000 tons, making it one of the ports with the most large and ultra-large deep-water berths globally. Nearly 300 cargo ships enter and leave the port daily. It also boasts the world's largest remote-controlled quay crane and gantry crane cluster, and the nation's largest 5G private network for ports has been established here, with intelligent momentum surging continuously.

Shanghai Port, the world leader in container throughput, has topped the global rankings for 16 consecutive years. As a critical node in the global supply chain, Shanghai Port has the largest single-unit container terminal with the highest level of automation. By 2025, its container throughput will exceed 55.06 million TEUs. On August 1 this year, the port set a new record for single-day container throughput, reaching 204,000 TEUs. Its efficient operations showcase the robust vitality of a world-class hub port.

What is the secret behind 16 years of global leadership? Shanghai Port's answer lies not only in its continuously improving operational efficiency but also in its ever-expanding "circle of friends." As a crucial gateway for China's foreign trade, Shanghai Port has nearly 350 international shipping routes, covering over 700 ports in more than 200 countries and regions, ranking first globally in port connectivity.

As the only inland port among the world's top ten ports by cargo throughput, Suzhou Port integrates the Taicang, Changshu, and Zhangjiagang port areas to weave a dense network of river-sea intermodal transport channels. By 2025, Suzhou Port's container throughput will exceed 10 million TEUs, becoming the first inland port in the country to reach this milestone. In the first half of this year, nearly 650,000 vehicles were exported from Suzhou Port's Taicang Port area to 166 countries and regions worldwide, averaging 2.5 vehicles per minute, a year-on-year increase of over 70%, setting a new historical high.

With its natural, ice-free, and silt-free port, Xiamen Port carries a century-old commercial heritage and has risen as a national container hub port, achieving a container throughput of over 12.5 million TEUs by 2025. It serves as a vital gateway for cross-strait trade and a strategic pivot for the Maritime Silk Road.

Collaborating and leveraging their strengths, the four provinces and cities of Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian will contribute over 40% of the nation's cargo throughput by 2025, despite having less than one-third of the country's ports.

Two Shining Stars of International Shipping Centers

An international shipping center is a significant symbol of a nation's comprehensive shipping strength and its voice in global shipping governance.

On July 10, the "Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development Index Report (2026)" was released, showing that Shanghai's comprehensive strength has risen to second globally, surpassing London for the first time and achieving a critical leap from "scale leadership" to "capability leadership." This breaks the six-year dominance of the Singapore-London-Shanghai trio.

The growth and expansion of leading shipping enterprises vividly illustrate the leap in Shanghai's international shipping center capabilities. As a global leader in integrated shipping and logistics, COSCO Shipping Group has deeply rooted itself in Shanghai while expanding globally. With one-eighteenth of the world's shipping capacity, it handles one-tenth of global maritime trade. The company continuously enhances its headquarters' service functions, contributing to the construction of Shanghai's international shipping center and promoting the aggregation of shipping elements, functions, and industries in Shanghai. Its 12 secondary units, covering container transportation, energy transportation, shipping finance, equipment manufacturing, shipping services, shipping technology, and socialized industries, have all established their headquarters in Shanghai.

Relying on Shanghai's world-class hub platform, COSCO Shipping Group's massive ships set sail from here, shuttling between major ports worldwide and extending shipping services globally. The aggregation and development of enterprises further promote the concentration of shipping elements, functions, and industries in Shanghai, forming a virtuous cycle of mutual achievement.

This success of "mutual reinforcement and bidirectional empowerment" is no coincidence.

Compared to London's century-old heritage and Singapore's geographical advantages, Shanghai's strength lies in its comprehensive and coordinated industrial ecosystem: from the industrial foundation of shipbuilding and port machinery manufacturing to the clustered development of shipping companies, classification societies, and ship management companies; from the intellectual support of universities and research institutions to the full-process support of financial and legal services—this all-encompassing shipping ecosystem is unparalleled globally.

Today, among the staggered buildings on both sides of the Huangpu River, international shipping giants such as Mediterranean Shipping (ranked first in global container capacity), COSCO Shipping (ranked fourth), and Hapag-Lloyd (ranked fifth) have all rooted themselves here, growing alongside the city.

With a solid industrial foundation and an open development environment, Shanghai's international shipping center construction is steadily transitioning from being "basically established" to being "fully established." The listing of the Containerized Freight Index (Europe Line) futures has given China its voice in shipping pricing. The country's first foreign-related maritime ad hoc arbitration case was decided in Shanghai, making it the "new home ground" for resolving international shipping disputes. The Ministry of Transport and the Shanghai Municipal Government signed the fourth round of cooperation memorandums to jointly promote Shanghai's development as a globally leading international shipping center. The core operational business of international ship inspection by the China Classification Society has been established in Shanghai, and the total tonnage of ships insured by the China Shipowners Mutual Assurance Association has exceeded 100 million tons. Shanghai's international shipping center's attractiveness and influence continue to grow, with a series of landmark achievements accelerating their implementation.

On the southern section of the East China Sea coastline, the Xiamen Southeast International Shipping Center has risen in response to the times. Rooted in the Haixi region, serving cross-strait relations, and facing the world, this city born of the sea handles not only goods but also opportunities.

The "Maritime Silk Road" map is expanding rapidly here. Xiamen Port's 66 "Maritime Silk Road" vessels have cumulatively operated over 15,000 voyages.

Even more striking is the efficiency revolution in regional express lines. The Xiamen-Southeast Asia cross-border e-commerce express channel integrates 27 direct shipping routes, covering 10 major ports in five countries, achieving point-to-point direct access. "Made in Fujian" products can reach the Southeast Asian market in just two days. The Xiamen-Manila express line is expected to export over 2 million items worth more than 16.5 billion yuan by 2025, becoming a benchmark for high-efficiency cross-border channels.

The "Hardcore" Power Driving Development

The crisscrossing inland waterways are the "capillaries" that nourish regional economies and smooth domestic circulation. To date, the navigable mileage of high-grade waterways in China has reached 18,500 kilometers.

The "Outline for Building a Strong Transportation Country" and the "National Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline" clearly propose constructing a high-grade waterway layout of "four verticals, four horizontals, and two networks." At the national level, efforts are being made to optimize the transportation structure, strengthen river-sea intermodal transport, rail-water intermodal transport, and other multimodal transport functions, and continuously enhance the safety, resilience, and international competitiveness of the water transport system. The 2026 National Transportation Work Conference proposed accelerating the construction of a modern, high-quality national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, emphasizing integrated development, safety enhancement, digital and intelligent upgrades, and green transformation.

With the mission of smoothing internal and external circulation and leading regional economic coordination, the East China Sea region is focusing on upgrading waterway grades and accelerating the construction of a safe, efficient, green, intelligent, and open modern water transport system.

When waterways are open, industries thrive. The transformation of the Wuxi West Station Logistics Park is the most vivid example. Previously, the old Xiliu Canal to Xiliu Canal branch waterway had a low grade, allowing only ships below 300 tons to pass, which could not meet the growing cargo transportation needs of over 1,200 enterprises and port-related industries in the park. The narrow waterway became a "bottleneck" restricting the park's quality improvement and expansion.

By February 2025, the waterway improvement project was fully completed, increasing the water freight capacity of the Wuxi West Station Logistics Park by 30% to 40%. Thousand-ton ships can now directly reach the park's docks via this 6.3-kilometer short branch waterway. The water transport advantages of the Yangtze River, Xicheng Canal, and Grand Canal have been directly extended to the industrial park, completely solving the "last mile" waterway problem. "Large ships can now dock directly at the factory gates, and water transport for bulk goods is more than 20% cheaper than road transport," said a manager of a company in the park, expressing the tangible benefits brought by smooth waterways.

The construction of "Water Transport Jiangsu" and "Shipping Zhejiang" is advancing in depth, with the level of interconnectivity in inland waterway shipping continuously improving. To date, Jiangsu Province has 2,761 kilometers of grade-three and above trunk waterways, while Zhejiang Province has built 538 kilometers of inland thousand-ton waterways. The dense water network injects endless vitality into regional economic development.

Large ports connect the world, and waterways nourish the hinterland. The collection and distribution system is the critical link that tightly connects the two, enabling efficient "door-to-door" flow.

Yiwu, Zhejiang, a bustling commercial hub, has been a thriving marketplace and gathering place for merchants since ancient times. Thanks to the container sea-rail intermodal trains connecting Yiwu and Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, Yiwu, which is neither near a river, sea, nor border, is seamlessly connected to Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. Leveraging the efficiency and convenience of water transport, "Made in China" is closely linked to the world.

"In the past, Yiwu's small commodities had to be transported by road to the port, involving many steps and taking a long time. Now, with the advantages of hub ports combined with port, railway, and shipping company resources, the sea-rail intermodal transport method can reduce logistics costs by 10% to 20%," said Wang Nan, Deputy General Manager of Zhejiang Seaport Yiwu Hub Port Co., Ltd. After the opening of the Yiwu (Suxi) International Hub Port, customs clearance efficiency has significantly improved, saving one to two days during regular periods and six to seven days during peak seasons.

Leveraging the advantages of water transport and channel connectivity, the East China Sea region is transforming the natural advantages of low-cost, high-capacity, and all-weather water transport into momentum for serving the real economy, steadily supporting the positive operation of the regional economy.

Nurturing Industrial Prosperity with Innovation Genes

For thousands of years, the innovative spirit of the people of the East China Sea has been passed down through generations: breakthroughs in key core technologies occur through iteration, and new business models and formats grow through exploration. Today, empowered by new productive forces, the shipbuilding industry in the East China Sea is undergoing iterative upgrades, showcasing its strengths, with green and intelligent ship types blooming like "flowers."

In Jiangsu, with its extensive waterways, the province firmly holds the national leadership in the shipbuilding industry. Shipbuilding enterprises in various regions are developing in a differentiated and coordinated manner. Nantong focuses on offshore engineering equipment and high-end ships, delivering the world's first 24,000-TEU methanol dual-fuel container ship and boasting rich experience in building wind power installation vessels. Taizhou specializes in large oil tankers and large container ships for clean energy. Yangzhou continues to excel in methanol dual-fuel ships and chemical tankers.

Currently, orders for high-tech and high-value-added products in Jiangsu's shipbuilding industry have increased by over 25% year-on-year. Green ship orders account for 42%, and intelligent ship orders account for 15%. New productive forces are driving the accelerated transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing industries.

Shanghai, the cradle of China's modern shipbuilding industry, is based on the Changxing Island industrial cluster and ranks among the world's top shipbuilding regions. Here, mid-to-high-end ship types account for over 98%, and breakthroughs have been made in aircraft carriers, large liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships, and large cruise ships—the "three major pearls"—achieving high-end leadership across the entire industrial chain.

Jiangnan Shipyard focuses on special-purpose ships and high-end gas carriers, achieving independent control over technologies for ultra-large ethane carriers, large container ships, and LNG ships. Hudong-Zhonghua, as the only domestic enterprise capable of building a full range of LNG ships, leads globally with the fifth-generation "Changheng Series" in terms of energy efficiency and evaporation rate. Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding has broken European monopolies, successfully delivering and mass-producing domestically built large cruise ships. Based on new international environmental regulations, Shanghai continues to tackle low-carbon, intelligent, and polar-specialized ship types, leading the global green transformation of shipping equipment.

In Fujian, the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, the province inherits a century-old shipbuilding heritage while revitalizing modern industries. Relying on the four major shipbuilding bases in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningde, and Zhangzhou, Fujian's shipbuilding enterprises are steadily advancing their paths of specialization and refinement. Moving away from traditional low-end bulk carrier manufacturing, Fujian shipyards focus on high-end products such as LNG dual-fuel ro-ro ships, green container ships, offshore wind power equipment, deep-sea aquaculture platforms, and new energy ships, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of the marine economy.

The East China Sea, pragmatic yet not conservative, open yet not impetuous, nurtures a flourishing industrial landscape with its pioneering spirit of innovation.

The tides surge in the East, flowing endlessly; the dream of the deep blue continues, with unceasing strides.

During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China's water transport industry has entered a new stage of modern development, focusing on building world-class ports, strengthening the connectivity of inland water transport systems, and establishing an international maritime safety development system. In the grand voyage of the new era, the East China Sea region will write more new chapters of connecting the world, empowering development, and pursuing the dream of rejuvenation.