The Panama-flagged bulk carrier VITTORIA berths at Qingdao Port. [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]

The Qingdao Port of Shandong Port Group Co Ltd – one of the world's biggest ports operators, based in Qingdao city in East China's Shandong province – is reportedly right on the track to become the international shipping hub center of Northeast Asia.

Recently the parent company, also known as SPG, delivered a strong set of financial results and container throughput figures for the first quarter of 2021. During the period, with its subsidiary Qingdao Port as the front-runner, it has been making concerted efforts to open and expand Belt and Road Initiative trade routes and premium cross-border e-commerce container express services.

Qingdao Port's Belt and Road RCEP – or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – shipping trade routes also recently officially launched their first voyage and also launched three new international routes. These routes are the EMC Southeast Asia line, the WHL/IAL Vietnam line and the WHL/IAL/ZIM/KMTC India line.

Statistics showed that in 2020, Qingdao Port opened 20 new routes, including 14 new oversea trade routes, taking the total number of routes to 198, with the number and density of routes ranking it first among ports in northern China.

Last year the port handled 4.3 million TEUs – twenty-foot equivalent units, the standard container size – achieving an 8 percent year-on-year increase, while the number of 400-meter-class container ships arriving at Qingdao Port reached 400, hitting a record high.

By consistently boosting its cargo and container volumes, the port company has endeavored to become a crucial hub for shipping lines when it comes to opening new routes.