The Promotions Conference on Guangzhou Port and Shandong Port Jointly Serving Regional High-quality Economic Development gets underway in Guangzhou. [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]

Shandong Port Group or SPG – one of the world's biggest port operators, based in Qingdao city in East China's Shandong province – is on the move again, in a bid to expand its commercial frontiers ever further.

It recently combined forces with Guangzhou Port Group, or GZP, to hold the Promotions Conference on Guangzhou Port and Shandong Port Jointly Serving Regional High-quality Economic Development.

The event was held – with the theme of "connecting domestic circulation and smoothing dual circulation" – in Guangzhou city, in South China's Guangdong province, on April 14. More than 80 clients from Guangdong, Shanghai, Guangxi, Hainan and Shandong and more than 120 guests attended.

Both SPG and GZP serve as significant logistics hubs in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative's development and for boosting domestic and international trade.

They shoulder the primary mission of serving national strategies in their respective areas, with SPG serving the environmental protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin and GZP serving the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In this context, their development strategies are reportedly highly complementary in terms of serving the national strategic layout and in terms of boosting their mutual development.

The cooperation between the two ports goes back a long way. Last year, they met in the town of Boao in South China's Hainan province and jointly issued their Boao Cooperation Program 2020.

Subsequently, in August, SPG went to Guangzhou, where the two parties signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on building world-class seaports. The aim is to build a closely interrelated and world-class port cluster and an efficient modern logistics system.

To date, the two ports have been linked through a slew of shipping routes, reportedly making significant progress in their north-south maritime cooperation.

Currently, there are 11 domestic container routes running through the two ports, with annual maritime traffic of over 1.6 million TEUs or twenty-foot equivalent units and roll-on/roll-off cargo transportation of 70,000 vehicles.

The domestic shipping routes linking the two ports operate every day. As such, a sea-rail and river-sea intermodal transportation network, with the two ports as the core and reaching surrounding regions, has been developed. In addition, maritime container traffic between the two ports in 2019 witnessed annual growth of over 10 percent, while in 2020 it surged more than 30 percent.

GZP reportedly promoted its own service during the promotions conference, while SPG promoted its own capabilities and services. SPG's Qingdao Port introduced its premium domestic routes at the event involving Guangzhou Port and a domestic carrier. Meanwhile, Rizhao Port promoted the shift of transportation modes from bulk to container traffic, while SPG's Yantai Port promoted its commercial vehicle business and Bohai Bay Port promoted its overall port services.

Reuniting once again, SPG and GZP gave a presentation on the development of their logistics channel that customers are most concerned about, while jointly promoting their newest service plans and models.

The aim is reportedly to keep pushing cooperation between ports and enterprises, so it grow deeper and stronger, in an effort to build a mutually beneficial and coordinated development ecosystem.

The year 2021 marks the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2020-25) and the initial period in which the shipping and port industry has adopted a keen grasp of the new development stage, implemented the new development philosophy and built on the new development paradigm.

Pulling their respective strengths and resources together, GZP and SPG plan to continue to inject new momentum into the north-south logistics channel.

Together with clients, they will also start a new chapter that fosters the new development pattern and facilitates regional high-quality economic development. It is understood that all these endeavors are designed to welcome in the Communist Party of China's centenary this year with outstanding achievements.