Shenzhen Port reached 30 million TEUs three weeks early, showcasing growth and advancements in operations and connectivity.
According to Shenzhen's municipal transportation authority, Shenzhen Port reached the 30 million TEU threshold three weeks ahead of its 2025 milestone.
As of October 17, cumulative container throughput across the port stood at 30.1 million TEUs, representing year-on-year growth of 7.7%, with laden container volume rising 8.0% over the same period. The proportion of laden containers has increased steadily for four consecutive years, reflecting continuous optimization of cargo structure and a dual advance in both throughput volume and operational quality. This early milestone reflects not only the strength of foreign trade demand and the port's liner network but also systemic improvements in hinterland connectivity, intelligent operations, and green transition.
Measured by hub-level capability, Shenzhen Port has continued to densify its global liner coverage throughout the year while expanding specialized transport capacity in alignment with new foreign trade drivers. To date, the port operates more than 270 international container liner services, alongside more than 30 regular point-to-point cross-border e-commerce sea freight express routes. During the year, Shenzhen Port formalized sister-port agreements with Piraeus Port in Greece and Yeosu-Gwangyang Port in South Korea, bringing its total network of sister ports to 31. Cargo volumes between Shenzhen Port and APEC member economies account for more than 50% of Shenzhen's total foreign trade, with these economies serving simultaneously as the port's largest export market and a critical source of raw materials; 16 Asia-Pacific sister ports together form a relatively complete supply-and-demand chain.
Roll-on/roll-off capacity has expanded in parallel. From January to September, Shenzhen Port handled more than 290,000 vehicles and automotive knock-down units by sea, an increase of 40.7% year-on-year, including more than 160,000 complete vehicles, up 53.2% year-on-year. Within the Shenzhen-ShanWei Special Cooperation Zone, newly manufactured vehicles rolling off the production line at the Xiaomo vehicle assembly base can reach Xiaomo Port and board an ocean-going ro-ro vessel in as little as five minutes. This port-adjacent manufacturing model—integrating port operations with industrial production—provides a shorter and more stable logistics pathway for the export of Shenzhen-made new energy vehicles.
In hinterland connectivity, Shenzhen Port has continued to develop water-to-water transshipment and sea-rail intermodal services, advancing the layout of combination ports and inland ports while steering the transport structure toward green and low-carbon operations. Since the pioneering construction of the 'combination port' framework in 2019, the waterway share of Shenzhen Port's hinterland transport has risen consistently from 27.7%, reaching 33.4% by September 2026, with the ongoing modal shift from road to waterway yielding sustained results.
The combination port and inland port networks have been simultaneously densified. Within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen Port has advanced the combination port model by relocating customs clearance and inspection procedures upstream to riverside ports, enabling integrated and coordinated operations with surrounding ports. The port currently operates 50 combination port routes, covering 11 cities within Guangdong Province, including Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, and Foshan. In addition, 33 inland ports have been established under formal designation and 45 sea-rail intermodal routes opened, extending service coverage across the Greater Bay Area, Southwest China, and Central China, progressively completing a multimodal transport network. Since the beginning of the year, Shenzhen Port has processed 209,000 TEUs through the inland port model, a year-on-year increase of 49%, further improving access for inland enterprises to an international shipping hub directly from their own localities.
The sustained performance at high throughput volumes is underpinned by smart port infrastructure. The Yantian Port East Operations Area is equipped with the largest automated twin-trolley ship-to-shore cranes in China, with a lifting height of 55 metres and an outreach of 75 metres, capable of handling ultra-large container vessels of 32,000 TEU capacity—approximately 33% beyond the carrying capacity of the world's current largest vessels—driving integrated operations across the Yantian central, western, and eastern port zones into deeper development. Mawan Smart Port, the first domestic container terminal to undergo transformation and upgrading into a benchmark smart port, leverages the independently developed China Merchants CTOS port operating system in coordinated operation with a 5G autonomous vehicle fleet management system, constructing an integrated intelligent scheduling framework capable of completing the full operational cycle, encompassing shore crane and yard crane alignment, horizontal container transport, vehicle charging, and twist-lock installation and removal.
On the green transition front, Shenzhen Port demonstrates a full-chain, multi-dimensional collaborative profile. In shore power, 124 berths across the port have been equipped with shore power facilities, achieving a berth coverage rate of 95%; shore power consumption from January to September reached 47.7 million kWh, up 34% year-on-year, maintaining a position consistently within the leading tier among China's coastal ports. The greening of vessels is accelerating: the 'Shengang Electric Tug No. 1,' the largest-horsepower fully electric intelligent tugboat in South China, has entered formal service. In LNG bunkering, cumulative supply at Shenzhen Port from January to September exceeded 440,000 cubic metres, up 19.4% year-on-year, sustaining its position as second in China and fourth globally.
Assessed in aggregate, Shenzhen Port has recorded phased progress across throughput scale, liner network, hinterland transport structure, and smart and green capabilities during the current year. For freight forwarders and export enterprises, the densification of liner services and the maturation of combination port and inland port networks serve to enhance booking options and the convenience of inland cargo consolidation; concurrently, advances in shore power, LNG bunkering, and automated terminal capacity provide a more stable port service foundation for time-sensitive and high-value-added cargo. Whether Shenzhen Port can sustain throughput growth while continuing to optimize cargo structure and operational efficiency remains a development worth close attention.