Developing towards the sea, creating a new chapter in the development of the sea and the iron mountain port. North Sea | Introduction | New Chapter

In August, in the Tieshan Port operation area of Beihai Port in Beibu Gulf, Guangxi, cargo ships shuttle and "giant arms" dance, blending the azure sky with the calm sea surface.

The whistle sounded, and a giant ship was about to anchor and set sail. "The cargo ship that is about to depart from the port is now loaded with 5000 tons of cement exported to Europe." Cai Shijun, the head of the machinery department at Tieshan Port, turned around and pointed further into the distance. "That cargo ship comes from Vietnam and imports 39000 tons of wood chips for papermaking."

Speaking of the current throughput, Cai Shijun, who has been working at Tieshan Port for a full 10 years, talks endlessly and is quite proud. "Today, a total of seven cargo ships arrived at the port, six of which came from Southeast Asia and the Americas. The proposal of the" the Belt and Road Initiative "has brought about significant changes in domestic and foreign trade."

An ocean going cargo ship unloading at the Tieshan Port terminal. Photo by Li Dong, a journalist from People's Daily Online

Tieshangang, born from the sea and thriving towards the sea. Located at the junction of South China, Southwest China and ASEAN economic circle, it is a major international channel for ASEAN, and is now an important gateway for the organic connection of the "the Belt and Road".

The flow of goods is smooth and bustling. According to Qin Chongjian, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of the trade union of Beihai Dock Co., Ltd. of Beihai Bay Port, who told people.com.cn, there are 11 ten thousand ton production berths in Tieshangang Operation Area and Shibuling Operation Area under the jurisdiction of Beihai Dock, providing strong logistics support for the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road".

"At present, Beihai Dock has developed into a comprehensive commercial port focusing on the transportation of containers, groceries and bulk cargo, serving the transportation of domestic and foreign trade." Qin Chongjian introduced that Beihai Dock plays an important basic role in building a "port industry park" integrated development pattern and serving the high-quality development of the regional real economy, and has become an important gateway for the organic connection of the "the Belt and Road".

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative. As one of the most convenient outlets of the new land and sea channel in the west, how can Beihai Dock actively integrate into the "the Belt and Road" construction, fully release the potential of the "sea", and make full use of the "border" article? In Qin Chongjian's view, it is necessary to leverage the advantages of the coastal area, actively create a convenient domestic and international dual circulation market, and build a highly integrated development system of "port industry park" and "port industry trade" to promote the development of the coastal industry.

"We should promote the large-scale, intelligent and professional green development of ports, continue to promote the digital transformation of ports, serve the overall development of the country, and contribute to the development of Chinese path to modernization Guangxi." Qin Chongjian is full of confidence in future development.

To become rich, first build a port. Building a sea oriented economy requires port construction as the top priority. Chen Xiaohua, member of the Standing Committee of the Tieshangang District Committee and Executive Deputy District Mayor, introduced that the Tieshangang Industrial Zone focuses on building five leading cluster industries: green chemicals, metal new materials and high-end equipment manufacturing, high-end glass and photovoltaic materials, high-end papermaking, and new energy. In 2022, the total output value of industrial parks above designated size reached 162.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.6%.

In 2023, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region formulated and issued the "Key Points for Promoting the Construction of the Western Land Sea New Channel in 2023", which clearly stated that it will comprehensively improve the infrastructure level of the Western Land Sea New Channel, focus on improving the quality and efficiency of channel operation, continuously optimize the business environment of the channel, and vigorously promote the integrated development of the channel economy. This includes key tasks such as completing 70 billion yuan in investment in major infrastructure projects and exceeding 8 million TEUs in container throughput at the Beibu Gulf Port.

"The purpose is to strive to promote the construction of the Beibu Gulf to continuously achieve new results, provide strong support for serving and integrating into the new development pattern, and strive to create a new situation of jointly building the the Belt and Road," said Chen Xiaohua.

The latest data shows that from January to June 2023, the Tieshangang Industrial Zone completed an industrial output value of 86.03 billion yuan above designated size; Completed tax revenue of 5.891 billion yuan; Fixed assets investment reached 9.13 billion yuan, up 43.8% year on year, including 8.01 billion yuan of industrial investment, up 37% year on year, and 9.8 billion yuan of foreign trade import and export, up 15% year on year.

"In the future development, Tieshangang Industrial Zone will focus on expanding the scale, upgrading, and strengthening the leading industries, accelerating the extension of the green chemical industry downstream, promoting the enhancement of deep processing capabilities of the metal new materials industry, strengthening the high-end glass and photovoltaic material industry cluster, and creating a high-end paper-making industry chain and energy industry cluster, with the aim of promoting the industry to climb towards the high-end of the value chain. We strive to achieve a total industrial output value of over 400 billion yuan in the industrial zone by 2030," Chen Xiaohua told People's Daily.

The former Maritime Silk Road is still thriving today. The work instructions were once again transmitted from the walkie talkie around Cai Shijun's waist. In the scorching sun of the Tieshangang work area, builders turned around and entered the working state. "It is a kind of happiness to use our strength to make contributions to the joint construction of the the Belt and Road," Cai Shijun said.

The sound of the waves goes on for thousands of years, and when the wind rises, we set sail again. The advantages of Beihai lie in the sea, its potential lies in the sea, and its hope lies in the sea. With its advantageous location, Tieshan Port is striving to write a new chapter in the Maritime Silk Road.