A bird's-eye view of Xiamen Port, Fujian province. [Photo/WeChat account: xiamen_swj]

East China's Fujian province recently issued a three-year plan (2021-23) to build world-class ports and to develop the Xiamen Southeast International Shipping Center.

Under the plan, by 2023, Xiamen Port's throughput is expected to hit 230 million metric tons and 13.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, of containers. It is also projected to have made significant progress in terms of its eco-friendly, smart and safe development.

The plan outlined that by 2025, Xiamen Port would rank among the top of its kind in the world, with key development indicators ranking among the top in China. These include port capacity, transportation facilitation, its specialized ships berthing rate and international influence.

It is envisaged that by 2025, the province will have built a modern southeast coastal port group with an excellent division of functions, an optimized spatial layout, full support capacity and a high competitive edge.

The plan makes it clear that Fujian province will focus on making the Xiamen Southeast International Shipping Center bigger and stronger.

By making overall use of the deepwater shoreline resources of Xiamen Bay and strengthening the capacity of its existing berths, Xiamen Port's container handling capacity will be improved and its role as a hub port for the national coastal container trunk line will be further consolidated.

The plan proposes to coordinate the allocation of resources in various port areas of Xiamen Port, improve the efficiency of international transfers and ensure the smooth flow of international supply chains.