JINING, China, Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from GLOBAL TIMES ONLINE:
Jizhou Port in Rencheng district, Jining city, east China's Shandong Province, has made new strides in promoting the strategic development of the port and shipping logistics industry by fully leveraging the unique geographical advantages of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, a vast waterway connecting the northern and southern parts of China.
As a hub port of inland rivers in north China, it is also adjacent to entrances and exits of two expressways. Home to Jining's first container wharf, the first phase of Jizhou Port started construction in 2020 and began operating on Sept. 30, 2021, one year ahead of schedule.
"Jizhou Port is endowed with a good geographical location. Bulk commodities can be directly delivered from the port to large ports along the Yangtze River and coastal ports through the Grand Canal," said Li Man, deputy general manager of Jizhou Port.
Li added that the port has opened direct routes to cities including Taicang, Lianyungang, Nanjing and Huaian in east China's Jiangsu Province, as well as Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province.
Since its operation, the port has sustained its growth momentum. From January to July this year, Jizhou Port saw its cargo throughput exceed 4.63 million tons and handled 27,700 containers.
Not long ago, Xiwang Starch Co., Ltd. in Zouping city of Shandong delivered cargos from Jizhou Port to Taicang. "It takes seven days to reach Taicang through the Grand Canal, cutting costs by 60 yuan ($8.63) per ton compared to that of road transport," said an executive of Xiwang Starch Co., Ltd.
Liu Weitian, manager of the commerce division of Jizhou Port, introduced that the number of the port's clients has grown rapidly this year. Besides, the port now delivers more categories of bulk commodities, such as sand and gravel, steel, and petroleum coke, laying a solid foundation for enhancing the strength and increasing the size of the port.
Meanwhile, the plan for building a special railway line for Jizhou Port was approved by the Shandong provincial transportation department and listed as a key special railway line by five ministries and departments under China's State Council. Upon completion, the railway will be connected to the Beijing-Shanghai Railway and the Yanzhou-Shijiusuo Railway. By then, freight trains will run between Shandong and Europe through the special railway line, and a road-rail-waterway multimodal transport system will be ensured for Jizhou Port.
"In addition, we have made progress in promoting the intelligent transformation of the port. So far, we have basically completed the construction of the port's automatic weighing, statistics and water supply systems," said Li.
Regarding the implementation of the Jizhou Port project as an important measure to boost the construction of the core zone of the port's Zhucheng port area, Rencheng district has worked hard to promote the construction of several logistics industrial parks in recent years.
"Rencheng district will fully harness its geographical advantages to build a port-centered logistics industrial park with an area of 15.5 square kilometers in the Yuejingou operation area and promote the road-rail-waterway multimodal transport system," said Wang Yongzhi, an official with the district's transportation bureau.
The district will also accelerate the construction of shipping projects, vigorously develop port-centered industries, and strives to build Jizhou Port into a green and smart port, so as to contribute to the development of Jining city, Wang added.
