Shanghai thinks big, aims to be leading hub

Shanghai aims to become the leading international shipping, aviation and railway hub with enlarged transportation capacity by 2040, according to a draft of the city's master plan.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport will be expanded with services that will blend with the smaller Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. By 2040, the city, with two major airports, will handle about 160-180 million passengers annually. More than 20 percent of them will be passengers transferring to other flights, not stopping in the city, and more than 40 percent will be international tourists. Mail cargo will reach about 10 million pieces annually.

"We're working hard to level up our capability and efficiency in handling more passenger traffic, with a shorter inspection process and improved service to welcome more domestic and foreign passengers in the future," said Zhang Baoke, deputy director of the Shanghai Airport Immigration Inspection Station.

In the first half of 2016, passengers entering and exiting Shanghai reached 28.5 million, a 15 percent increase year-on-year - a number that is expected to hit a record high of 40 million or more this year at both airports combined.

Between July 1 and Aug 18, 5.1 million passengers passed through immigration control at Shanghai Pudong, an average of 105,000 per day.

In the international shipping sector, the city has set a goal for annual container handling - 45 million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs - in Shanghai port by 2040, with an international container transfer rate of about 10 percent.

Shanghai Yangshan Deep-Water Port and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port will be the two leading ports for reaching the target, backed up by other ports such as Hangzhou Bay and Chongming Island.

As the port with the nation's largest container handling capacity, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port has established a series of convenient measures such as online pre-inspection of documents and one-stop customs clearance services to save the time and expense for ships coming from overseas.

"We've shortened the waiting and inspection period for an inbound ship from 24 hours to 12 hours in order to help make the city an international shipping center," said ShiLei, an officer at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Immigration Inspection Station.

Meanwhile, the four railway stations in the city will handle 65 percent of outbound passengers, making Shanghai a major railway junction in China.