The general cargo ship Zhuoyuanhaisheng departs from the Dongjiakou port area of Qingdao Port, which is operated by Shandong Port Group. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The general cargo ship Zhuoyuanhaisheng, which was loaded with 30,000 cubic meters of tires and plywood products manufactured by six tire companies in Shandong, successfully departed from the Dongjiakou port area of Qingdao Port on Nov 18, heading to Shandong Port Group or SPG's overseas warehouse at Abu Dhabi Port in the United Arab Emirates.

SPG's launching of overseas warehouse services for local tire companies is designed to serve China's new "dual circulation" development pattern in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market serving as the mainstay. It also meets the national call for business innovations in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, as well as serves Shandong's high-quality growth strategy of replacing old growth driver with new ones.

With these endeavors, SPG's two subsidiaries - Shandong Port Overseas Development Group and Qingdao Port - have demonstrated their newest achievement in serving physical enterprises. This is of practical importance to promote the structural adjustment of the tire industry.

By creating a whole industrial chain combining production, processing, warehousing, logistics, sales, and circulation, the opening of the overseas warehouse will help tire companies in Shandong and China expand their overseas markets in clusters by establishing an overseas sales and service channel. It is expected that this will effectively improve SPG's international reputation and competitiveness.

According to port officials, Shandong Port Overseas Development Group and the Dongjiakou branch of Qingdao Port jointly established a work group. Through concerted efforts, the initial loading of 30,000 cu m of goods on the Zhuoyuanhaisheng was completed within only six days. The goods are being directly sent to the overseas warehouse at Abu Dhabi Port in the United Arab Emirates from Dongjiakou port area. This kind of transport reduces costs by nearly 40 percent compared with traditional container transport, thus cutting customers' warehousing logistics costs and improving their overseas profits.

In the future, SPG will leverage its advantages of being a hub with abundant port and shipping resources. By providing a whole-process "overseas warehouse + cross-border e-commerce + general trade + supply chain finance + comprehensive services" supply chain service model, SPG will continue to streamline the logistics channel for tire companies to export products. These endeavors will help capture larger international market share for Shandong and Chinese tire enterprises to go global in clusters.