On April 28, Evergreen Shipping's "Changguan" berthed at Tianjin Port, marking the official opening of the Western Line (CPS) of the Ocean Alliance. The route will further expand the trade channel between North China and the United States, improve logistics efficiency, reduce enterprise costs, provide efficient and stable shipping support for industries in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Bohai Rim regions to go to sea, promote the deep integration of port and city, and help the high-quality development of the export-oriented economy in the north.

On April 28, 2025, the world's largest automobile carrier "Grovivision pilot", independently built by China, was delivered in Nansha, Guangzhou, with a maximum loading capacity of 10800 vehicles, setting a new world record. The ship adopts LNG/fuel dual-fuel propulsion system, which has the characteristics of green environmental protection, energy saving and high efficiency, which marks a new breakthrough in China's high-end shipbuilding capacity and provides a "Chinese solution" for the green transformation of the global shipping industry '.

Through field visits to Shandong ports, this paper reveals the underlying reasons for the historic breakthrough in China's foreign trade in the first quarter of 2026. From the efficient operation of the fully automated terminal in Qingdao Port, to the intensive opening of new routes, the transformation of the export structure to high value-added products such as new energy, and the cost reduction and efficiency increase of inland port sea-rail intermodal transport, the article shows the resilience and vitality of China's foreign trade in a complex environment, as well as the strong pulse of the port as a barometer of the national economy.

Hunan Province issued the first network platform waterway cargo transportation business license, marking the province's waterway freight into the "network contract" era. The platform was built by a company under the Hunan Chenglingji Port Group, using big data, cloud computing and other technologies to achieve cargo release, ship selection, cargo tracking and other functions, effectively solve the traditional water transport information asymmetry, inefficiency and other issues, to help Hunan from the inland hinterland to open frontier transformation.

Recently, COSCO Shipping Yangpu Port successfully completed the first "one-time declaration, one-to-the-end" sea-rail multimodal transport business. A batch of motorcycle spare parts were transported from Chongqing to Yangpu via Zhanjiang and exported to Myanmar. The move marks a key breakthrough in the "iron-sea linkage" between the new western land-sea corridor and Hainan Free Trade Port, reducing the traditional transportation cycle from 7 days to 5 days, increasing efficiency by nearly 30%, significantly reducing the logistics and communication costs of enterprises, and injecting new momentum into the construction of Yangpu International Container Hub Port.

In the first quarter of 2024, the operation of the new land-sea channel in the western part of Chongqing achieved significant growth. A total of more than 400 trains were sent and nearly 17000 vehicles were loaded, an increase of more than 30% over the same period last year. This reflects the normal and efficient operation of the channel as the main artery of international logistics, which effectively promotes the external transportation of motorcycle parts, auto parts and "made in Chongqing" chemicals, and injects strong impetus into regional economic development.

On April 18, 2026, the 2026 Maritime Science and Technology Innovation Seminar was held in Wuhan University of Technology. The conference, sponsored by the China Navigation Society and hosted by Wuhan University of Technology, aims to implement the innovation-driven strategy and promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and personnel training in the field of navigation. More than 100 units and more than 200 representatives from the national transportation field attended the meeting. The conference focused on topics such as the self-reliance of navigation technology, the development of new quality productivity of shipping, academic exchanges and international cooperation, and conducted special reports and group exchanges to help the high-quality development of my country's navigation industry.

The Hunan Provincial Government issued the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" outline, clarifying that in the next five years, it will build a modern transportation system with "three vertical and five horizontal" comprehensive transportation corridors as the main framework. The plan aims to deeply integrate into the main framework of the national transportation network, enhance the backbone channel capacity, connect Hunan, Xiamen and Chongqing channels, and expand Beijing, Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai and Kunming lines. At the same time, it will improve the multi-level three-dimensional transportation network, coordinate the construction of railways, highways, water transportation, and aviation, promote the "county-to-county" highway, the upgrading of rural roads, the construction of high-grade waterways and port systems, and expand the "three-dimensional sea" international trade channel, Strengthen the ability to connect to major domestic economic zones and internationally.

The article introduces that in the first year of the "Fifteenth Five-Year Plan", Shandong Province, guided by the investment target of 1.35 trillion yuan, comprehensively promotes the construction of a demonstration zone for a strong transportation country. Transportation investment got off to a good start in the first quarter, and key projects such as the Xiongshang High-speed Railway, the Qingzhang Expressway Yellow River Bridge, and the second phase of Jinan Airport progressed smoothly. The plan clearly will build a "peninsula city cluster on the track" and a "smooth Qilu" expressway network, with the goal of achieving "city-city high-speed rail" and "county-county double high-speed", and by strengthening cross-departmental coordination and factor guarantees, it will contribute to regional economic development. Inject strong momentum.

Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia Wuda Green Energy Low Carbon Logistics Park was officially put into operation on April 14. The total investment of the project is about 0.7 billion yuan. It adopts the integrated mode of "light, storage, charging and exchange" and is equipped with facilities such as photovoltaic power generation, energy storage system, charging and exchange station and hydrogenation station. It aims to reduce the power consumption cost of the park by more than 40% and provide affordable services for new energy heavy trucks. The park integrates bulk warehousing, smart parking, and multi-format services. It is expected to save about 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 7200 tons, and create hundreds of jobs at the same time. It is a demonstration project to promote the green transformation of regional logistics and reduce carbon emissions.

On April 8, COSCO Shipping's "Guoyun Sea" ship berthed at Guangzhou Nansha Port, marking the successful maiden voyage of its first container liner route, a multi-purpose ship direct voyage to North Africa. The route connects Nansha with Port Said in Egypt, Benghazi in Libya and Misurata in Libya, with a shortest voyage of only 21 days, providing the fastest delivery time for Nansha to Libya. The route has strong cargo adaptability, can carry new energy vehicles, lithium batteries and other dangerous chemical containers, and equipped with refrigerator sockets to meet diversified export needs, highlighting the advantages of efficient and reliable comprehensive services.

Vale and Shandong Shipping have signed a contract for the world's first batch of ethanol/methanol three-fuel ocean-going ships. The new ships will be built by Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding and are scheduled to be delivered from 2029. This is the first time that the maritime industry has used ethanol as the main fuel in an ocean-going vessel, which is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 90%. The 25-year contract, involving two second-generation Guaibamax vessels, is designed to be flexible and forward-looking, support the subsequent transformation of LNG or ammonia fuel, and be equipped with a number of energy efficiency technologies such as rotor sails, which is Vale's key initiative to promote emission reduction across the value chain.

According to the 2025 survey released by the State Post Bureau, the public satisfaction score of express delivery services last year was 85 points, a slight increase year-on-year. The average time limit for the entire express service was shortened to 51.22 hours, a decrease of 2.66 hours year-on-year, with a significant improvement in the efficiency of the transportation link. The 72-hour proper investment rate reached 87.04 percent, up 3.09 percentage points year-on-year. The survey covers 50 cities and 9 major express brands across the country, and the service quality in the western region has improved significantly.

On March 31, the world's highest piling ship "Tiejian Bridge Pile 1" was officially delivered in Nantong. The ship was independently designed and built by my country, and delivered to the China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group for operation, realizing the localization of the whole chain of "design, construction and operation. Its pile frame height is 156 meters, the operating water depth is over 70 meters, and the lifting capacity is 700 tons. It is currently the world's strongest pile driver and will provide key equipment support for major strategic projects in the far-reaching sea.

On March 31, the train from Fuling Longtou Port to North Africa, a new western land and sea channel, was successfully launched, loaded with 150 sets of SKD pieces worth about 10 million yuan, and shipped to Algeria via Qinzhou Port in Guangxi. The train adopts the "railway sea transport" multimodal transport mode, which is more than 10 days shorter than the traditional river-sea transport, demonstrating the ability of the channel to serve the export of high value-added products. Since the opening of the special railway line, the throughput of Longtou Port has increased significantly, and the logistics cost has been effectively reduced through the railway-public-water combined transport system, providing solid logistics support for the two-city economic circle in Chengdu-Chongqing region and China-Africa economic and trade cooperation.