On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of YANTIAN, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily released a special edition under the title of "A World-Class Port Starts from Scratch" to showcase the extraordinary journey of YANTIAN over the past 30 years.

A World-Class Port Starts from Scratch–Chronicle of the Past 30 Years of YANTIAN
Lines of berthing mega-vessels, rows of quay cranes, steady flow of inbound and outbound tractors and trains...This is Yantian Port, one of the busiest container ports in the world. Upon the 45th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily visited this world-class port to see how it has grown from scratch.

On November 16, 30 years ago, Hutchison Ports YANTIAN (hereinafter referred to as YANTIAN) was established. Since then, generations of people of YANTIAN worked hand in hand to turn this barren site to a world-class port with global influence, connecting China and the rest of the world.

A miracle created with dedication and determination
In 1992, Deng Xiaoping's southern tour speech set off a new wave of reform and opening-up in China. Hong Kong, a city across the river from Shenzhen, was also deeply involved in this wave. Hutchison Ports, a renowned port enterprise in the global port industry, set its sights on Yantian, Shenzhen.

Yantian, located in Mirs Bay, is an ideal place for developing container terminals because it is free of siltation and deep-sea undercurrents. After many rounds of negotiation with Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, on October 5, 1993, Hutchison Whampoa Yantian Port Investment Company Limited signed a joint venture contract with Shenzhen Port Group (formerly Shenzhen Dongpeng Industry Company Limited) for the establishment of YANTIAN, which was formally founded on November 16.

A group of aspirant entrepreneurs then came from Hong Kong and Chinese mainland to this sparsely populated and rocky mudflat, envisioning the development of a world-class port here; a group of engineers and technicians dedicated to port construction conducted field surveys; and teams of construction workers embarked on their journey here towards a common dream.

On July 20, 1994, a loud and clear siren sounded in Yantian Port. YANTIAN welcomed the first line-haul container vessel, the “Maersk Algeciras”. This was the first container vessel calling at Yantian Port.

Since then, YANTIAN has flourished, setting one record after another and becoming a benchmark for Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation. In 1998, the container throughput of YANTIAN exceeded 1 million TEU, and on December 28, 2007, the annual throughput of YANTIAN exceeded 10 million TEU.

A new journey in the new era
YANTIAN was born and flourished as a result of reform and opening-up.

People of YANTIAN still clearly remember that back in 2008, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the reform and opening-up, Xi Jinping, who was then the Vice President and a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, paid a visit to Yantian Port. We were told by employee representatives that at Yantian Port, Xi Jinping learnt about the container transport process, crane operating system, intelligent supervision system, etc. He talked cordially with the operators of RTGCs, learnt about their educational background, duties, etc., affirmed their contribution to the development of the port, and encouraged them to keep improving technical skills and striving for excellence. Xi also paid special attention to the port's environmental protection. H inquired about the port's emissions, stressed that the development and operation of the port should not be at the expense of water quality, and expected YANTIAN to come out with a new method to strike a balance between port development and environmental protection.

Chen Huochang and Tu Zhihui both joined YANTIAN at that time, and as quay crane operators, they were as much encouraged as all the other staff to delve deeper into technologies and skills. YANTIAN launched various incentive measures to mobilise staff's enthusiasm and creativity, and drove them to participate in skills and technology competitions. Chen Huochang, Tu Zhihui and other technical experts of YANTIAN struck gold in a number of competitions. For example, in the 2023 Shenzhen Skills Competition-Electric Port Machinery Operator Skills Competition held in YANTIAN, which attracted 62 contestants from 18 large ports in China, a total of 16 contestants from YANTIAN advanced to the final. Among the top 10 players, 8 are from YANTIAN, and YANTIAN finally took both the first and second places home.

At the end of 2012, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China opened a new chapter in China's growth journey, and YANTIAN also ushered in a new era of accelerated development and created new glories with perseverance and unremitting efforts.

On January 8, 2013, YANTIAN set a new world record--its cumulative throughput exceeded 100 million TEU in 18.5 years -- making it the fastest terminal in the industry to achieve such feat. On February 1, 2021, YANTIAN reached a cumulative throughput of 200 million TEU, the fastest single terminal to reach this milestone in just 26.5 years. On December 8, 2021, the construction of the automated terminal project of the East Port commenced, a crucial step for YANTIAN to be a national logistics hub. On July 18, 2022, six 400-metre ocean "giants" berthed at YANTIAN at the same time, which is the first of its kind in South China and even in the world. According to the data released by the Container Branch of China Ports and Harbours Association in 2023, YANTIAN's annual throughput has been in the first place among terminals in Chinese mainland for 20 consecutive years. Moreover, in the past six years, YANTIAN has been named Best Container Terminal – Asia (Over 4 million TEU) twice.

Eco-friendly technologies for a world-class green port
YANTIAN, through its eco-friendly technologies, such as shore power systems, LNG-powered tractors, electric RTGCs equipped with the latest LED technology, is able to reduce the carbon footprint of its terminal operations and thus cut costs substantially.

Lucid waters and lush moutains are invaluable assets. YANTIAN has never stopped its actions to realise enterprise profits while fulfilling corporate social responsibility.

Zheng Guilin, a highly skilled RTGC operator, told us the huge benefits brought by electrification, "With electric RTGCs, the air is fresher, the noise is less, and the working environment is much better!" His son, influenced by his father, chose to study logistics at college and became a front-line staff member at YANTIAN after graduation. He said that he can now see blue sky and white clouds every day at the terminal thanks to the shore power system.

We learnt that YANTIAN has been practicing the green concept and launched three major initiatives: the development of shore-to-ship power system, the conversion of diesel-driven RTGCs to electric ones, and the deployment of LNG-powered tractors.

To realise energy saving and emission reduction, the first thing to do is "plus and minus". In 2007, YANTIAN took the lead in using electric RTGCs in China and widely applied LNG-powered tractors in 2010. In recent years, YANTIAN actively promotes clean energy mobile machinery and has electrified almost all its forklifts with charging piles deployed.

In terms of ship-shore collaboration to reduce pollution and carbon emissions, YANTIAN started its shore power system project as early as 2015, and is one of the earliest terminals in China to conduct feasibility studies on shore power projects. YANTIAN's 6 MVA mobile shore power systems covering 17 mega berths, lead the industry in providing shore power for the world’s largest container vessels. When vessels use shore power, they tap landside electricity for their power needs at berth instead of running diesel-fuelled auxiliary on-board engines. Using shore power reduces both noise and emissions, including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter. From 2019-2021, YANTIAN reduced a total of 17,681 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and won the “Shore Power Demonstration Project” from the Ministry of Transport Ship to and “Science and Technology Award (First Prize)” from the China Water Transportation Construction Association.

YANTIAN is the fourth hub port in the world and the first hub port in South China to have LNG bunkering service capabilities after Port of Singapore, Port of Rotterdam, and Port of Shanghai. It is also part of YANTIAN's efforts to attract the calls of LNG-powered vessels to enhance its overall competitiveness as a international shipping hub.

Over the past decade, YANTIAN's throughput has risen by 32% while carbon emissions per container have dropped by 25%, which has brought YANTIAN a number of awards, such as being the first port in the Chinese mainland to be awarded the title of "International Sanitary Port" by the WHO in 2008, being named as the “Ship to Shore Power Demonstration Project” by the Ministry of Transport, “Science and Technology Award (First Prize)” from the China Water Transportation Construction Association, and “Best Green Container Terminal” thrice in 4 years.

Lawrence Shum, Managing Director of YANTIAN said, "We have lived up to the expectations of President Xi Jinping by achieving harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature, port development and ecological protection.”

Yantian Port is now a popular choice for sightseeing for photography enthusiasts and the public. Standing on the observation deck at the south gate of Yantian Senior High School to enjoy the night view, with the breeze blowing on your face, the cosy and comfortable feeling is beyond imagination.

Strength advantages and shore up weak spots to contribute to economic growth
To always stand at the head of the tide of the times, we need to seize new opportunities and take new actions. 

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasises the creation of a new development dynamic that focuses on domestic flow and features positive interplay between domestic flow and international engagement. Shenzhen is at a strategic node between the domestic flow and international flow, so the Municipal CPC Committee and Municipal Government point out to focus on building a new development pattern, be correctly positioned, seize development opportunities, and smooth the "dual circulation".

YANTIAN has long been engaged in intermodal transport. In 2022, the Ministry of Transport and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly announced that 20 projects, including the "Yantian Port’s Asia-Pacific-Pan-Pearl River Delta-Europe International Multimodal Service Project", have been recognised as "National Multimodal Service Demonstration Project". Yantian Port is the only port in Shenzhen to receive this distinction.

The convenient container pickup and grounding procedures in each inland port of YANTIAN extend the port functions to the inland areas. Data shows that the intermodal service network allows international trading enterprises in Chinese mainland to enjoy convenient services, saving 30% of logistics costs.

This year, YANTIAN has welcomed maiden voyages of 26 of the world's largest container vessels, each with a loading capacity of about 24,000 TEU, topping South China. YANTIAN has by far opened 12 inland ports and 30 rail-sea services, 8 port alliances and 16 feeder services, especially the "Shenzhen Yantian - Hong Kong Kwai Tsing" feeder service, which was launched since Day 1 of the operation of YANTIAN, a solid support for the feeder container growth between the two places bucking the downtrend.

In the office of Frange Yu, General Manager of Shenzhen Pingyan Multimodal Company Limited, there hangs a calligraphy, which reads: "Crossing mountains and seas; connecting the world". "This is the mission and aspiration of our multimodal transport services", Yu said. He joined YANTIAN right after graduating from university, where he not only gained a career, but also started a family.

"YANTIAN is our home, and we grew together with it." In our interview, we can deeply feel that all the 2,000 employees of YANTIAN, from ordinary employees to technical experts, are united as one for a shared dream, that is what allows YANTIAN to create one miracle after another, impressing China and the world.

YANTIAN was born and flourished thanks to the successful the Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation. With the further advancement of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, YANTIAN is bound to play an more important role in the special tie between the two cities, and make greater contributions to a win-win port, shipping, modern logistics, industrial chain, and supply chain service system, the Belt and Road Initiative, the "Dual Circulation" pattern, and the robust growth in the Greater Bay Area.