At the 2024 North Bund Forum, Shanghai’s Mayor Gong Zheng announced that the city is on track to handle over 50 million 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers this year, solidifying its position as the world’s largest container port.
According to local news, this milestone, making Shanghai the first city to surpass the 50-million TEU mark, reflects its strategic role in global shipping. In 2023, Shanghai handled 49.16 million TEUs, a 3.9% increase from the previous year, and the city’s container volume for the first nine months of 2024 reached 39.1 million TEUs, an 8% rise from the same period in 2023.
Gong emphasized Shanghai’s commitment to strengthening its international shipping center status by promoting clean energy, digital innovation, and further automation, especially at Yangshan Port, the world’s largest automated container terminal. The port’s increased automation will handle rising cargo flows more efficiently. He also highlighted plans to liberalize the finance sector and improve legal frameworks to attract international carriers, with a focus on marine insurance and maritime arbitration.
Shanghai is also advancing green initiatives, including the development of facilities to produce green methanol from food waste by Shenergy Group, which will contribute to the carbon reduction goals of the shipping industry. By 2025, the city expects to produce 70,000 to 100,000 tonnes of this alternative fuel annually. Additionally, the Shanghai Futures Exchange has introduced Containerized Freight Index Futures to help industry players hedge against volatile freight rates, reinforcing Shanghai’s leadership in both shipping volume and services.
Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Port and the Port of Hamburg, Germany on 23 October jointly announced the building of a green shipping corridor between the two ports, a move aimed at promoting their green transformation, strengthening cooperation and exchange, and collectively advancing the sustainable development of the global shipping industry.
The Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, the Hamburg Port Authority, COSCO SHIPPING Lines Co., Ltd. and the Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on jointly building the green shipping corridor at the North Bund Forum, which opened in Shanghai on Tuesday.
According to the MoU, the signing parties will cooperate in promoting the construction and use of shore power at the ports, explore and promote the necessary infrastructure, regulations and preferential policies needed for the supply, use and refueling of green fuels, and invite more partners to join in the efforts to achieve the green shipping corridor goal.
