A port showcases new vitality to the world, Xinhua All Media+| Night at the Port | Tianjin Port | Port

Poster production: Fang Jinyang

On the evening of June 7th, in the pitch black Bohai Bay, a dazzling scene gathered at Tianjin Port: in the darkness, freight trucks continued to drive towards the port area one after another; Under the starry sky, beams of bright lights illuminate busy work sites throughout the night. 68 cargo ships from around the world are docked, boxes of containers loaded and unloaded, filled with the vitality of the Chinese economy.

Cars, boats, people, the busyness under the night

At 10 o'clock in the evening, a gentle breeze blew through the Bohai Bay. Several tall white wind turbines have uniformly rotating blades, which stand out in the darkness.

Container trucks lined up in long queues at the gates of Tianjin Port, gradually entering the work site. A driver said that there has been a noticeable increase in work and income recently.

In the harbor area, the lights are brightly lit.

Entering the Alliance International Container Terminal, the "Eastern Luxembourg" ship from Hong Kong was unloading cargo, and boxes of containers landed precisely on the truck before heading towards the yard. At the Pacific International Container Terminal, 8 quay cranes smoothly lifted and nearly 50 container trucks drove in an orderly manner. At the LNG terminal, an LNG ship carrying 75000 tons of liquefied natural gas is undergoing unloading operations. This is the sixth LNG ship unloaded by the port in over a month.

This night, the Tianjin Port Smart Zero Carbon Wharf was also not idle. Four production lines are loading and unloading goods.

Jia Lu, who has been working at the border inspection for nearly 30 years, only took a brief nap this evening.

"Since the beginning of this year, there have been 20% to 30% more cargo ships." At midnight on the 6th, Jia Lu, who was patrolling around the "Eastern Luxembourg" ship, said that in the busiest month, 600 ships were inspected and released, and more than 10000 people were inspected and released.

On June 6th, trucks transported goods at the Tianjin Port Alliance International Container Terminal. Photo by Zhao Zishuo, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

New railways and routes, expanding economic vitality

At midnight, Tianjin Port Fourth Port Co., Ltd.'s dock remained busy.

On the dock, the "Union Crown" ship is busy unloading iron ore. At the work site, all 7 work lines were opened, and with the sound of the gantry crane, freight trucks loaded with iron ore drove out of the dock in an orderly manner. These 170000 tons of iron ore that has crossed the ocean will be transported to the mainland after being transshipped at Tianjin Port.

On June 5th, the Tianjin Port South Xinjiang Railway Expansion Project was opened for operation. "The overall railway transportation capacity of Nanjiang Port Area will be increased by 15 million tons, and the transportation structure of Tianjin Port will be optimized." On the evening of the 6th, Li Haifeng, the manager of the Engineering Facilities Department, said at the Tianjin Port Yuanhang Ore Terminal yard in Nanjiang Port Area.

Since the beginning of this year, Tianjin Port has added three new container shipping routes.

"Many of the ships berthed tonight are from or destined for Southeast Asia," said Liu Xin, the route development manager of Tianjin Port Co., Ltd.'s business department. From January to April this year, the ASEAN import and export value added at Tianjin Port reached 50.3%.

Ports are the barometer of national economic development. Data shows that in the first quarter of this year, Tianjin Port completed a cargo throughput of 114 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.71%; Containers completed 5.047 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 9.09%, setting a new historical high for the first quarter throughput.

This is a scene of Tianjin Port taken on the evening of May 27th. Shen Jizhong

RCEP brings new vitality to the port

At 9 pm, at the Tianjin Port Global Ro/Ro Terminal, two Ro/Ro vessels were operating intensively, and more than 1000 branded vehicles were orderly loaded into the cargo hold.

Since the beginning of this year, the import and export of automobiles, especially new energy vehicles, in Tianjin Port Area has been increasing. Statistical data shows that in the first four months, the export volume of new energy vehicles at Tianjin Port reached 87000 units, a year-on-year increase of 78.4%, with a value of 1.03 billion yuan, an increase of 81.3%.

On June 2nd, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement officially came into effect for the Philippines, marking the full entry into force of RCEP for 15 signatory countries and entering a new stage of comprehensive implementation.

Taking automotive parts as an example, after joining RCEP, some companies can enjoy tariff reductions for resin gaskets, bolts, solenoid valves, and other goods declared for import from Tianjin Port.

Yang Lei, a 37 year old planner from the Operations Department of Tianjin Port Second Container Terminal Co., Ltd., has been frequently on night shifts recently. "With the advancement of RCEP, more and more international routes are connecting the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region with the world," said Yang Lei.

Data shows that in 2022, over 6 billion yuan of import and export goods under RCEP at Tianjin Port were eligible for tariff preferential treatment, with a value of 4.28 billion yuan for preferential imported goods and over 65 million yuan of tariff reduction for imported goods; Tianjin export enterprises have applied to Tianjin Customs for more than 4100 RCEP certificates of origin, with an export value of 1.75 billion yuan. Export goods can enjoy nearly 9 million yuan of import country tariff reduction.