Qinzhou Automated Terminal Writes a New Chapter in Maritime Opening-Up

On October 27, the media delegation for the themed event ‘Land-Sea Corridor Connecting the World · River-Sea Synergy Opening New Prospects — 2026 New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor Guangxi Tour’ visited the Qinzhou Automated Container Terminal. As the world's first container terminal with a U-shaped process layout and China's first fully automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal transport, it integrates next-generation technologies including artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing. The terminal has independently developed China's first large AI model for mixed traffic at smart ports and other core systems, enabling fully automated operations.

The bustling Qinzhou Automated Container Terminal. Photo by Cai Juncong

Looking out from the terminal's innovation center, visitors can observe quay cranes operating and intelligent guided vehicles (IGVs) shuttling back and forth, with containers moving in an orderly manner between the storage yard and berths. According to Zhang Minghe, manager of the operations department at Guangxi Qinzhou Bonded Port Area Honggang Terminal Co., Ltd., cargo arriving at Beibu Gulf Port needs to be transferred between transport modes and terminals. The model enables IGVs to replace manually driven container trucks, improving overall efficiency while reducing per-container sea-rail intermodal transport costs and inter-terminal haulage costs.

With the opening of the Pinglu Canal, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor will be upgraded from rail-sea intermodal transport to river-rail-sea multimodal transport. The Qinzhou Automated Container Terminal is currently advancing the integrated operation of five 5,000-tonne-class river-sea intermodal berths with berths 7 to 10, aiming to create Beibu Gulf Port's first fully automated container terminal integrating both river-sea and sea-rail intermodal transport. Upon completion of the project, the terminal will enable rapid ship-to-ship cargo transfers between 1,000-tonne-class inland vessels arriving via the Pinglu Canal and 10,000-tonne-class ocean-going vessels. This could cut the shipping distance for cargo from southwestern China heading to sea via the canal by approximately 560 kilometers compared with traditional routes, with overall logistics costs expected to fall by 18% to 30%. (Text by Cai Juncong)