Port prosperity expands across Fujian, creating a new development blueprint through deep integration of ports, industries, and cities.

In 2025, the cargo throughput of Fujian's coastal ports reached 760 million tons, with the economic added value of coastal ports exceeding 795.5 billion yuan, accounting for 15.3% of the GDP of port cities. The economic added value of Fuzhou and Quanzhou ports both surpassed 200 billion yuan, placing them alongside Suzhou, Ningbo, Wuxi, and Tangshan in the top tier nationwide. The proportion of port economic added value in Fujian's coastal port cities increased by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, with the scale of port economic development continuing to expand, further highlighting its role in supporting regional economies. Xiamen Port ranked among the global top five for average time spent by major ocean-going vessels in port and at berth, while Fuzhou Port achieved the world's highest container operation performance. From "channel construction" to "channel economy," from "transit economy" to "landed economy," and from "port-industry linkage" to "portside industrial belt," Fujian is not merely writing a report card but also documenting the footprints of cities striving for maritime strength.

Ports serve as gateways for opening up to the outside world and as core engines for driving regional economies and connecting inland hinterlands. In recent years, the Fujian Provincial Department of Transportation has aimed to build world-class ports, promoting deep integration of ports, industries, and cities. Efforts have focused on upgrading port infrastructure, expanding shipping networks, and constructing multimodal transport systems, while strengthening the "Silk Road Maritime" brand. These initiatives have propelled Fujian's port and shipping industry from scale expansion to quality and efficiency improvement, charting a new course for high-quality development on the blue map.

Deep-water ports "nurture" trillion-yuan industries

Ports and cities resonate in harmony and deeply integrate with industries to stand tall in the wave of openness. Ports serve cities, and cities thrive because of ports—this is a mutual journey between ports and cities. Fujian uses ports as leverage to drive the aggregation of portside industries and elevate urban capabilities, forging a distinctive development path of "gathering industries through ports, thriving cities through industries, and strengthening ports through cities."

In the Sansha Bay of Ningde City, Fujian, lies a renowned natural deep-water port—Sandu'ao Port Area. With deep waters and wide harbors, it serves as the "gateway" and "throat" of the coastal region in eastern Fujian.

At the northern end of the natural deep-water port of Sandu'ao, the SAIC Group Ningde production base, covering an area of approximately 2,100 acres, stands out prominently. Inside Asia's largest general assembly workshop at the SAIC Passenger Vehicle Ningde Base, robots and operators work in harmony, assembling vehicle components and main bodies in an orderly manner. As the largest domestic export base for new energy vehicles, a complete vehicle rolls off the production line every 53 seconds on average, with over 240,000 new cars annually transported to destinations worldwide through its comprehensive logistics network.

The Zhangwan operation area, a key development zone of Sandu'ao, plays a crucial role in Ningde's three-dimensional transportation system of "connecting the north and south, advancing westward and eastward, and linking rivers and seas." It provides strong support for Ningde's efforts to build a trillion-yuan industrial cluster and an advanced manufacturing base along the southeastern coast. Currently, the Zhangwan operation area has constructed one 150,000-ton berth, five 50,000-ton berths, and one 30,000-ton berth. The port's capacity upgrade directly translates into logistics support for Ningde's four leading industrial clusters: lithium battery new energy, new energy vehicles, stainless steel new materials, and copper materials, transforming this small eastern Fujian city into the world's largest lithium battery industrial base.

Since the "14th Five-Year Plan," Fujian has continuously enhanced the capacity of port infrastructure. The number of productive berths at coastal ports across the province increased from 420 to 479, berths above 10,000 tons rose from 184 to 221, and navigable channels above 100,000 tons extended to 325.7 kilometers. The province added over 100 million tons of port cargo handling capacity, with actual port throughput reaching 890 million tons, capable of accommodating the world's largest main vessel types. Eight specialized terminal clusters for containers, bulk dry cargo, liquid chemicals, and others have begun to take shape. The natural advantages of deep-water ports are being transformed into strong momentum for industrial aggregation.

At the Luoyu operation area of Putian's Dongwu Port Area, the 400,000-ton iron ore berth has achieved regular unloading operations, becoming the largest iron ore transshipment port for Taiwan on the mainland. Leveraging port advantages, the Shimen'ao operation area has established a "port + energy + storage + service" development model, supporting projects such as Fujian Yongrong Technology's caprolactam (CPL) project, Sankeshu Shimen'ao production base, and the propane dehydrogenation to propylene industrial chain. These efforts have accelerated the formation of Putian's national-level new functional materials trillion-yuan industrial cluster.

In the Jiangyin Port City Economic Zone of Fuqing, manufacturers of wind turbine mainframes, generators, structural components, and blades have built factories near the port. This area boasts the world's most advanced MDI proprietary production line and the world's largest alkane integrated production base. By 2025, the chemical industry's output value in the zone exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, earning a spot on the "14th Five-Year Plan" list of the most competitive chemical parks. This "front port, rear factory" layout allows bulk raw materials to be delivered directly to workshops via dedicated terminals, and products to be shipped out immediately after production, significantly enhancing supply chain efficiency.

"Silk Road Maritime" connects global markets

Shipping routes are the "blood vessels" connecting ports to the world. Leveraging increasingly sophisticated port facilities, Fujian continues to optimize its shipping network layout, building bridges for global trade connections.

Currently, Fujian's coastal region has opened 319 container liner routes, including 174 international routes, with approximately 2,100 monthly sailings reaching over 60 countries and regions and connecting more than 160 ports. Xiamen Port ranks 11th globally in connectivity index.

At Xiamen Port's Haitian Terminal, rows of cranes stand tall. A cargo ship loaded with over 6,000 items, including shoes, small appliances, and daily goods for cross-border e-commerce, is about to depart. In two days, these goods will arrive at Manila Port in the Philippines.

Such speed was unimaginable for Sun Kaiyang, General Manager of Xiamen Feixunchi Supply Chain Co., Ltd. "In the past, goods had to wait in warehouses in Xiamen until a container was full, then be transported by truck to a port outside the city two days before the ship's departure for loading, making transportation times unpredictable. Now, goods can be delivered, loaded, inspected, and set sail all on the same day, significantly shortening the logistics chain," said Sun. Xiamen has also innovatively introduced a multi-business consolidation model, allowing a single container to carry both e-commerce parcels and general trade goods simultaneously, expanding the range of goods, offering more flexible customs clearance methods, and reducing transportation time by two days. Each container's shipping cost has decreased by 4,000 yuan, significantly enhancing market competitiveness.

This transformation is attributed to the launch of the "Silk Road Maritime" cross-border e-commerce express routes. In June 2022, the first "Silk Road Maritime" e-commerce express route was inaugurated. Since then, multiple e-commerce express routes have been opened, enabling cross-border e-commerce goods to sail directly from Xiamen Port to major ports in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries.

The thriving development of e-commerce express routes is a vivid reflection of the deepening and solid progress in building the "Silk Road Maritime" brand. Fujian pioneered and implemented the comprehensive shipping service brand "Silk Road Maritime," which continues to release its magnetic appeal, becoming a vital link between China and the world and connecting land and sea. Since its launch in 2018, the "Silk Road Maritime" alliance has grown to 375 members as of July 31 this year. Starting from over 10 ports nationwide, 148 "Silk Road Maritime" routes now cover 150 ports in 48 countries and regions, establishing a comprehensive development channel for ports, shipping, and trade. The named container routes of "Silk Road Maritime" have cumulatively operated 25,105 voyages, achieving a container throughput of 29.4641 million TEUs.

Specialized routes such as e-commerce express lines, bulk cargo lines, and daily sea-rail intermodal services precisely match market demands, promoting closed-loop collaboration across the entire chain of ports, shipping, trade, and industries. This construction practice has been included in China's eight actions supporting high-quality Belt and Road Initiative development. Furthermore, advancing the integrated development of "Silk Road Maritime" ports, shipping, and trade has been incorporated into the national "15th Five-Year Plan" outline. From local exploration to national strategy, Fujian's international influence in port and shipping continues to rise.

Sea-rail intermodal transport opens up inland "arteries"

The vitality of a port lies in its connectivity. Fujian has consistently expanded shipping routes outward and explored inland hinterlands, deepening the construction of its sea-rail intermodal transport system. This has broken geographical barriers between mountains and seas, reshaped logistics patterns, extended the advantages of coastal ports to inland areas, and opened up major arteries for foreign trade logistics, making Fujian's seaports convenient gateways for inland provinces to access international markets.

Innovations in efficient intermodal transport models are the key to improving logistics quality and efficiency. Recently, the Ganzhou International Land Port to Xiamen Port sea-rail intermodal "single-ticket" export train successfully commenced operations, carrying furniture, bamboo products, and other inland specialties to Southeast Asia and Taiwan. With the new model of "one-time entrustment, one-ticket-through, one-time settlement," goods achieve "one-container-through, fully controlled transit," significantly simplifying cumbersome operational processes, effectively reducing cargo damage risks, and making inland foreign trade transportation more efficient and stable, rewriting the inefficiencies and poor connections of traditional segmented transport.

Innovative breakthroughs in port-station dispatch mechanisms have laid a solid foundation for the development of sea-rail intermodal transport. In July 2025, Fujian's first sea-rail intermodal port-station joint dispatch center was established in the Jiangyin Port Area of Fuzhou Port. By restructuring traditional operational models and implementing an integrated mechanism for joint office and synchronized dispatch among multiple parties, it broke the barriers of segmented operations, achieving seamless coordination between railway unloading and port loading. Over the past year, the port area directly unloaded and transported 20,933 TEUs of containers, improving operational efficiency by 50%, reducing single-container transfer costs by 16.7%, and saving enterprises approximately 600,000 yuan in logistics costs.

Addressing the connection challenges of sea-rail intermodal transport for commercial vehicles, the Jiangyin Port Area pioneered the "arrival equals port entry" model, enabling vehicles to directly enter the port's rear yard for loading upon railway arrival. This successfully compressed operational cycles and effectively avoided vehicle damage risks caused by multiple transfers. To date, the sea-rail intermodal transport channel for commercial vehicles has completed the roll-on-roll-off export of 3,120 vehicles, providing a more efficient solution for the export logistics of the automotive industry chain.

Leveraging a mature intermodal transport system, Fujian's port hinterland continues to expand, and the intermodal network grows increasingly dense. Today, regular sea-rail intermodal trains from Bengbu, Anqing, and Hefei East to the Jiangyin Port Area of Fuzhou Port operate routinely, forming a three-dimensional intermodal transport network covering 12 cities across Fujian, Jiangxi, and Anhui provinces. Goods from Hefei can now reach Fuzhou Port within 24 hours. In the first half of this year, container throughput on this channel reached 4,166 TEUs.

The deep integration of "ports and railways" has enhanced Fujian's economic influence in central and western regions. The "Xinyu-Quanzhou" sea-rail intermodal transport channel at Meizhou Bay Port's Xiaocuo Port Area focuses on "sea-rail linkage, one-container-through, seamless transit, and high efficiency," integrating resources from railways, ports, and shipping to eliminate logistical bottlenecks between ports and inland areas. By optimizing operational processes, standardizing transportation, and enhancing information interconnectivity, it reduces overall logistics costs and provides more stable, efficient, and economical logistics solutions for end-users.

As a key link in the network connecting ports within the province, the Xiuyu Port Area of Meizhou Bay Port has leveraged existing feeder lines between "Putian-Xiamen" and "Putian-Jiangyin" to create a new model for foreign trade logistics. Since April, the Putou operation area has implemented a "2+N" liner operation model, with two fixed mainline sailings per week and flexible additional emergency sailings as needed. Coupled with high-quality empty container resources and efficient customs clearance services, this model addresses challenges faced by foreign trade enterprises, such as difficulty in obtaining containers, complex processes, and high costs, opening a convenient export channel for "Fujian goods via Fujian ports."

A series of innovative measures have yielded remarkable results in promoting land-sea linkage construction. Data shows that in 2025, container volume transported via sea-rail intermodal transport through Fujian ports reached 188,000 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 33.5%. In the first half of this year, the volume exceeded 122,000 TEUs, with a year-on-year growth of 44.2%.

Mountains and seas embrace, connecting far and wide. The roaring China-Europe freight trains and sea-rail intermodal trains break the geographical constraints of inland provinces without access to the sea, allowing Jiangxi's minerals, Sichuan's light industry products, and Hubei's equipment to set sail from Fujian's seaports. Fujian uses sea-rail intermodal transport as a link to connect inland hinterlands with international markets, continuously invigorating economic vitality.

"Fujian ports have become a 'pillar' of economic development, not only shouldering economic responsibilities but also serving as crucial support for connecting inland areas and global markets," said Lei Wenzhong, a member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Fujian Provincial Department of Transportation. To further enhance port hub capacity and strengthen Fujian's marine economy, the provincial government recently approved and jointly issued the "Measures to Accelerate the Construction of World-Class Ports and Promote Integrated Development of Ports, Shipping, and Trade" by the Department of Transportation and two other departments. The measures outline 17 tasks across five key areas: infrastructure, resource integration, multimodal transport, portside industries, and business environment, implementing a "combination punch" to transition ports from "individual efforts" to "unified strength." The goal is to build a modernized southeastern coastal port cluster that connects both sides of the Taiwan Strait, integrates with the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and radiates to central and western regions with comparative advantages.

The tide rises in the southeast, striving for maritime strength. As the "15th Five-Year Plan" begins, Fujian will aim to build world-class ports, deepen the integrated development of ports, shipping, and trade, continuously strengthen infrastructure, optimize shipping services, expand inland hinterlands, and enhance port-industry-city integration. In serving the construction of a new development pattern, Fujian will boldly act as a "maritime pioneer," striving to write the blue chapter of China's modernization practice in Fujian amidst the era's waves of land-sea linkage and cross-strait integration!

□Commentary

Breaking Free from "Throughput Thinking": Maritime Development Beyond Ports

Thriving by the sea goes beyond ports. Fujian's vivid practice of port-industry-city integration breaks away from the traditional mindset of single data orientation, redefining the core logic of port development, industrial aggregation, and urban enhancement in the new era, providing a new paradigm for high-quality development in coastal regions.

The core competitiveness of ports lies in their dual connectivity as hubs. Fujian has abandoned the traditional perception of "emphasizing loading and unloading while neglecting empowerment," refusing to limit ports to physical nodes for cargo transfer. Instead, ports are being transformed into strategic hubs linking domestic and international dual circulation. Leveraging the "Silk Road Maritime" brand, Fujian has innovatively launched cross-border e-commerce express lines and specialized bulk cargo routes, implemented sea-rail intermodal "single-ticket" services, and addressed global supply chain efficiency bottlenecks. This has propelled ports from passively receiving cargo to actively integrating logistics, trade, and industrial resources. Meanwhile, the increasingly dense land-sea intermodal network breaks geographical barriers between mountains and seas, extending port hinterlands from coastal areas to Jiangxi, Anhui, and central and western inland regions, making Fujian's seaports convenient gateways for inland provinces to access international markets. This fully demonstrates that the value of modern ports lies not in mere throughput tonnage but in their ability to deeply embed themselves into regional industrial, supply, and value chains with low costs, high efficiency, and excellent services.

The core advantage of industrial aggregation has never been proximity to ports but the deeply embedded symbiotic capacity. True port-industry integration is not simply about enterprises residing near water but about the deep coupling of ports and industries in a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship. Fujian's breakthrough lies in spatial reconstruction through "front port, rear factory," completing the iterative upgrade of portside industrial development and achieving a qualitative transformation from "proximity to ports" to "relying on ports and empowering ports." Key port areas such as Ningde Sandu'ao, Fuzhou Jiangyin, and Putian Meizhou Bay have leveraged the natural advantages of deep-water ports and dedicated terminal facilities to establish closed-loop chains where raw materials directly reach workshops and finished products are shipped immediately after production. This transforms port logistics advantages directly into industrial competitiveness. Ports are no longer independent supporting facilities but extensions of industrial chains and core supports for industrial clusters, breaking down the barriers of port-industry separation and independent development.

Cities thrive because of ports, industries flourish because of ports, and ports strengthen because of cities. Fujian's practice profoundly demonstrates that port-industry-city integration is not a simple addition or mechanical combination of the three but a systemic transformation centered on ports, reshaping spatial patterns, reconstructing industrial systems, and reorganizing regional collaboration. From pursuing port scale expansion to focusing on overall capacity enhancement, Fujian has achieved a deep leap from "building ports" to "thriving industries, prosperous cities, and vibrant regions," providing a highly valuable practical model for coastal provinces in the new era to manage oceans, deepen land-sea coordination, and advance high-quality port-industry-city integration development.