Port on Yangtze sees substantial growth

The throughput of twenty-foot equivalent units at Chenglingji port in Yueyang, Hunan province, exceeded 1 million for the year on Wednesday, raising the port's profile as a key trade center in the Yangtze River Basin.

The port became the third, after Chongqing port and Wuhan port, to deal with more than 1 million TEUs a year in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze.

Chenglingji port, located at the intersection of the river and Dongting Lake, is a major trading center in Hunan and a core part of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Its cargo handling capacity grew from 40,000 TEUs in 2009.

The number of vessels reaching Chenglingji port was around 5,000 this year, 2,000 more than in previous years, owing in part to its optimized policy to make logistics quicker and more convenient.

Starting this year, exported cargo moving through Chenglingji port, Yangluo port in Wuhan and Jiujiang port in Jiangxi province, only needs to complete customs procedures once based on cooperative agreements between them.

New Yueyang-Chuanyu and Yueyang-Huangshi shipping routes opened this year, inspiring 15 shipping enterprises to add 21 ships at the port. Its cargo trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative also saw significant growth this year.