Guangzhou to recapture former glory as shipping hub

Guangzhou Huangpu Old Port was the customs post during the Qing dynasty and boasted lots of foreign ships.

Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong province, has set itself the target of building the metropolis into an international shipping hub.

It aims to achieve the goal by taking advantage of the newly-approved Nansha Free Trade Zone in the southern part of the city and through playing an active role in the country’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road strategy.

What the city is actually pursuing appears more like regaining its former glory. This is because Guangzhou (Canton), known as the thousand-year-old capital of trade and commerce in Chinese history, was once a prosperous mega shipping center, witnessing the opening of maritime trade routes between the Middle Kingdom and major powers of the world in centuries gone by.

In 1729, the first Dutch ship arrived in Guangzhou, opening direct trade between the Netherlands and China and marking the start of 230 Dutch vessel arrivals in the city between 1729 and 1795.

Three years later the Friedericus Rex Suecie of Sweden docked at the ancient port, signaling the start of 129 Swedish arrivals in the following 74 years until 1806.

The first American merchant vessel, Empress of China, left New York harbor on Washington’s birthday, February 22, and in 1784 became the first American ship to sail from the newly independent United States to China, opening trade between the two countries. The success of the voyage encouraged others to invest in further trading with China and between 1786 and 1833 1,104 American merchant vessels visited Guangzhou.

In 1805, two Russian ships made their maiden voyages to Guangzhou, opening the Russia-China shipping route.

Between 1758 and 1838, 5,107 foreign merchant vessels arrived in the port and . Guangzhou was already established as a major shipping hub in the world.

It is the right time for the city to regain its old glory and Guangzhou officials should not be too modest about historical fact.

Guangzhou Huangpu Old Port was the customs post during the Qing dynasty and boasted lots of foreign ships.

The Chinese government has promulgated an action plan on the proposed Belt and Road Initiative. The Belt and Road refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. According to the plan, Guangzhou, together with other designated coastal cities, should strengthen port construction.

Last year Guangzhou handled 500 million tons of cargo and 16.61 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containers, ranking fifth and the eighth respectively in the world.

According to the plan, Guangzhou port will increase its annual cargo handling capacity to 550 million tons and container throughput to 20 million TEUs by 2017 while 15 billion yuan is expected to be invested in construction of key port projects.

An international shipping hub requires not only heavy infrastructure investment and capacity expansion, but the establishment of international-level arbitration, legal and financial services as well as tax break incentives and best professionals for the shipping industry.

An international shipping hub also needs a strong economy with advanced manufacturing and robust foreign trade to support it. Guangzhou has it.

Guangzhou is located at the heart of the Pearl River Delta region which boasts the world’s largest city cluster, and Guangdong province is the country’s top economic powerhouse with its GDP surpassing 6.77 trillion yuan last year.

The city can also benefit from economic and trade growth in neighboring provinces by taking the advantage of the well-developed inland river, railway and highway transport systems in the region.

Guangzhou port is set to regain its former glory, with a much larger handling capacity, modern facilities and sound services in the years ahead.