Shandong Port Group (SPG), the world's largest port conglomerate in terms of cargo capacity, launched 33 projects with a combined investment of 30.34 billion yuan ($4.54 billion) at Zhifu Port Area of Yantai Port, a subsidiary of SPG, on April 22.

These projects are expected to boost Yantai's high-quality development. They have either been completed, started construction, or are receiving new investments, and cover areas such as transportation, energy resources, food and logistics.

Yantai Port has a history of more than 160 years and is regarded as a convenient gateway for SPG to gain smoother access to parts of northern China. In the past three years, SPG has beefed up efforts to promote the integrated development among its ports.

According to official data, the port handled 367 million metric tons of cargo in 2021, up 8.8 percent year-on-year, and its container throughput grew 10.6 percent year-on-year to 3.65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The annual income of the port totaled 7.5 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 37.7 percent.

In recent years, SPG has also made great progress in helping Yantai expedite the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones, and promote the high-quality development of the city. Official data shows that the group has achieved a cumulative investment of 12.6 billion yuan in Yantai, and 15 key projects have been completed to date.

These projects are expected to boost the integrated development of the city, the port and local industries, and will help accelerate the development of Yantai's chemical engineering industry, with the output value to exceed 200 billion yuan in 2023.

The chemical engineering industry in Yantai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, is expected to surge in the coming years. [Photo/WeChat account: Shandong-Port]