A celebration ceremony to accomplish the SPG's shipping business in 2020 is held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on Dec 24.  [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

SPG's major achievements in 2020:

●Cargo throughput exceeded 1.4 billion tons

●Container throughput exceeded 30 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units)

●Sea-rail joint transport exceeded 2 million TEUs, and the 70th container line was launched

● Qingdao-Qinhuangdao domestic trade container liner route first voyage

Under the special circumstances affected by the COVID-19 epidemic this year, Shandong Port Group (SPG) hit a batch of new record highs in this year's shipping business. A celebration ceremony was held in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on Dec 24.

Huo Gaoyuan, SPG's Party secretary and chairman of the board, Zhang Jun, vice mayor of Qingdao and other officials participated in the ceremony.

Zhang delivered a keynote speech and stressed that the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee and the Qingdao Municipal People's Government had consistently ramped up full support for SPG's reform of port-industry-city integration, helping the group speed up construction of the world-class port.

Li Fengli, deputy Party secretary and general manager of SPG, said that going forward under the guidance of the spirit of the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, SPG will seize new opportunities. The group will rely on sci-tech innovation to build advanced smart and green ports and to help make the ports fully intelligent.

By virtue of the advantages brought about by SPG's reform of port-industry-city integration, its shipping network, with Qingdao Port as the hub, is gathering steam. The preeminent position of Qingdao Port as a freight hub for Northeast Asia has been increasingly reinforced, enabling its container business to step into the mega-ship era with a total capacity of 24,000 TEUs.

In 2020, a total of 35 new container routes were added, including 18 foreign trade routes, and the total number of container routes reached 300, the highest number ever reached in North China. Six new freight trains were added, bringing the total to 70; three inland ports were set up, reaching 18 in total; the volume of standard sea-rail intermodal boxes exceeded 2 million; and an end-to-end logistics system was established.

"Congratulations! SPG's cargo throughput exceeded 1.4 billion tons and container throughput exceeded 30 million TEUs" is written on a container being loaded in Qingdao Port. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]