Port Of Qingdao, China

The Port of Qingdao (also spelled Tsingtao, means "pearl of the Yellow Sea") rests at the entrance to Jiaozhou Bay on the south coast of Shadong Peninsula overlooking the Yellow Sea in eastern China. The Port of Qingdao is located some 94 nautical miles northeast of the Port of Liayungang and about 300 nautical miles west-southwest of the Port of Incheon in South Korea. Offering one of northern China's best natural harbors, the bay is open year-round for large vessels. The Port of Qingdao is an important cultural center with several important universities. It is also a major center for marine sciences and technology. In 2007, over 2.8 million people lived in the urban area surrounding the Port of Qingdao.

In 1984, the government of the People's Republic of China named part of Qingdao a Special Economic and Technology Development Zone, supporting the city's growth with secondary and tertiary industries. As one of China's fourteen open cities, the Port of Qingdao supports a local economy that thrives on international trade and foreign investments. Japan and South Korea have made significant investments in the city, and about 80 thousand South Korean citizens live there. The hinterlands of the Port of Qingdao contain more than 20 hectares of arable land, so agriculture is an important part of the regional economy. Marine resources like fish, shrimp, and other ocean products are also important to the economy. Minerals mines and paper mills also contribute. The Port of Qingdao is home to three industrial zones: Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Area, Qingdao Free Trade Zone, and Qingdao High-tech Industrial Zone.

Governed by the Qingdao Port Authority, the Port of Qingdao has trade relations with more than 450 ports in over 130 countries around the world. With a natural deep-water silt-free harbor, the Port of Qingdao is an important center for international trade and ocean-going transportation.

The Port of Qingdao contains three major areas: the Old Port, Huangdao Oil Port, and Qianwan New Port. The Port of Qingdao is equipped to handle a wide range of general, bulk, and project cargoes. The major cargoes handled by the Port of Qingdao include containers, iron ore, coal, crude oil, and grain. Other cargoes include aluminum, fertilizer, sodium carbonate, cement, rubber, sodium carbonate, wood pulp, cotton, lumber, and ironware.
In 2007, the Port of Qingdao handled a record 265 million tons of cargo, including 190 million tons of foreign cargo and 9.5 million TEUs of containerized cargo, making it the second busiest port in mainland China. In that year, the Port of Qingdao opened a new liquid chemical wharf and a new container terminal and launched the largest cold store in China. In the first half of 2008, the Port of Qingdao had already handled over 150 million tons of cargo.
The Qingdao-Jinan Expressway and the Jiaozhou-Jinan Railway both start in the Port of Qingdao, offering fast and convenient transport of goods into the interior. The Port of Qingdao has 70 working berths, including 24 deep-water berths that can accommodate vessels over 10 thousand DWT. The Port of Qingdao is also a busy fishing port.


The Port of Qingdao contains the world's largest container dock and world-class docks handling crude oil, coal, iron ore, and bulk grains. It also boasts the largest EDI information center in mainland China and is home to China's only state-class center for technology research and post-doctoral science and research.

The Port of Qingdao's Qianwan Container Terminal Company, Limited (QQCT) is a common-user international container terminal with alongside depth of 14.5 meters that can accommodate 5th- and 6th-generation container vessels. The stacking yard covers 225 hectares, and the terminal offers over three thousand reefer plugs. The total berth length is 2400 meters, and the approach channel can accommodate vessels with draft of 15 meters. The Container Freight Station also offers 5.5 thousand square meters of covered storage for general cargo.

In 2003, the Port of Qingdao's world-class container terminal was opened under a joint venture involving the Port of Qingdao, COSCO, Maersk, and P&O. By 2004, container throughput was already over 5.1 million TEUs. The berths at the terminal total three thousand meters in length with alongside depth of 17.5 meters, and the terminal includes a 1.5 square kilometer container yard. The new container terminal boasts the world's best container loading/unloading efficiency (474 boxes per vessel per hour). With China's biggest intermodal railway station, the Port of Qingdao can automatically transfer containers from vessel to rail for shipment to major inland cities. The new terminal can accommodate the world's biggest container vessels.

Created in 1992, the Qingdao Free Trade Zone has a total area of 250 hectares and contains more than two thousand projects from investors from more than 40 countries, including 21 global projects. The Free Trade Zone contains 26.8 thousand square meters of construction areas, 22.8 thousand square meters of warehousing areas, and 23.4 thousand square meters of building base areas.

n 1984, China began its open-door policy and named the Port of Qingdao as one of its 14 open cities, opening the door to foreign investment and trade and locating its own navy's northern fleet there. In 1984, three US Navy ships visited the Port of Qingdao, making the first US port call to China in over 37 years.

Today, the Port of Qingdao is an important manufacturing center. The city is undergoing a period of rapid growth, with a new central business district added to the older business district. A large industrial zone is located outside the Port of Qingdao's city center. The industrial zone includes facilities that process chemicals and manufacture rubber and heavy machinery. There is also a blossoming high-tech industry in the industrial zone.

Qingdao is surrounded on three sides by water, with Laoshan Mountain as a backdrop. Qingdao's red-tiled roofs and verdant foliage complement its picturesque setting. Its fine beaches, pleasant climate and popular beer brewery make it widely appealing to tourists both at home and abroad. Qingdao, which is the finest aquatic sports centre in Asia, is well known for water competitions. Thus it is no surprise that the International Sail-Boating Association judged that Qingdao is capable of becoming the site of the sailing contest after Beijing won the bid for hosting the 2008 Olympics.

The port of Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province has become the 16thlargest in the world with a handling capacity of at least 100 million tons of cargo a year. The port has navigation routes to more than 400 ports in 130 countries and regions worldwide. The port's container handling capacity has been increasing at an annual rate of between 30 per cent and 40 per cent during the past few years. All the world's top 10 container-shipping companies do business with the port.