China stakes global dominance in race to build intelligent ports
- After opening last month, the new addition to China’s first fully automated port container terminal is already setting records
- China’s completely independent smart port management and control systems no longer rely on foreign expertise
Six years after China’s first fully automated port container terminal began operating, the country now has its own completely independent intelligent port management and control systems.
The facility opened last month in the new third phase of the Qingdao Port’s Qianwan Container Terminal. The domestically produced technology means that China – home to the most automated container terminals in the world – can now build and run its own terminal production lines without relying on Western parts or technology.
China now has 18 terminals in operation at various ports, with 27 others either under construction or being renovated, the Ministry of Transport said last month.
The country’s first fully automated container terminal began service in Qingdao in 2017. It relied on complex information systems that were “monopolised by foreign manufacturers”, Chen Qiang, the deputy manager of information technology at the port, said in a report by state-owned newspaper Guangming Daily on Monday.
Automated container terminals, which load and unload cargo between ships and transport vehicles autonomously, require complex software, Chen said.