Recently, the Phase IV fully automated terminal in the Nansha Port Area of Guangzhou Port was been officially put into operation. The terminal is the world's first fully automated terminal for river-sea-rail multimodal transport and the first newly-built automated terminal in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which will inject new momentum into Guangzhou’s implementation of the Overall Plan of Guangzhou Nansha for Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Comprehensive Cooperation Facing the World, leading the construction of the International Shipping and Technological Innovation Function Carrying Area of the Greater Bay Area and building a world-class port cluster.

The Nansha Phase IV fully automated terminal is the first fully automated container terminal jointly built by domestic scientific and technological forces in China. It has four 100,000-dwt seagoing ship berths, as well as supporting container barge berths. It integrates cutting-edge technologies such as Beidou navigation, 5G communication, artificial intelligence, and self-driving, and adopts a new-generation automated container terminal technology route from automation equipment hardware to information systems, creatingmore than 60 patents including 31 invention ones.

Lu Yixian, Member of the Standing Committee of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, Secretary of the Nansha District Party Committee, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Nansha Development Zone (Nansha Area of the Free Trade Zone), Sun Xiuqing, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of Guangzhou Port Authority, Wen Wanjun, a first-level researcher of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Transportation, Ni Mingxuan, President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Liu Chengyun, Assistant General Manager of CCCC, and Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman and President of Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries, Fang Qiujiang, General Manager of CCCC Fourth Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. and the leaders of relevant departments and port units in Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Foshan attended the event.

Li Yibo, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Guangzhou Port Group, Huang Bo, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager of Guangzhou Port Group, Chen Hongwei, General Manager of Guangzhou Port Co., Ltd., representatives of construction units, customers, media agencies, and leaders and guests of relevant departments and units of Guangzhou Port Group attended the event.

Li Yibo, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Guangzhou Port Group, said that Nansha Phase IV fully automated terminal has achieved localization from equipment manufacturing to system development. The project is intelligent, low-carbon, economic, intensive, independent, controllable, reproducible and promoteable, and has contributed Chinese wisdom and Guangzhou solution to the promotion of automated terminal technology and the automation transformation of traditional terminals. After the project is put into operation, it will coordinate with Phases I, II, and III container terminals of the Nansha Port Area to form a specialized, large-scale and integrated terminal cluster, enhance the carrying capacity of Nansha International Shipping and Logistics Hub, and enhance the function of the international comprehensive transportation hub. It will also provide strong support for Nansha to construct a major strategic platform based on the Bay Area, coordinating with Hong Kong and Macao, serving the world, and build a high-level open gateway hub.

Ni Mingxuan, President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), said in his speech that the Phase IV fully automated container terminal project in the Nansha Port Area of Guangzhou Port integrates advanced technologies such as new-generation IoT perception, big data analysis, and artificial intelligence. After the project is completed, it will achieve zero emissions and become a green and environmental protection demonstration project in the port industry, which will provide a demonstration solution for the automation upgrade and transformation of traditional terminals around the world. It will also become a pacemaker in the construction and transformation of global ports and terminals and a new city card in Guangzhou. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) will give full play to its advantages in artificial intelligence, robotics, big data and other fields, fully integrate into the development and construction of Nansha, and further strengthen cooperation with Guangzhou Port in projects and talents.

Sun Xiuqing, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Guangzhou Port Authority, said that the Guangzhou Port Authority will effectively unify its thoughts and actions into the decisions and deployments of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Central Committee of the Party, firmly grasp the major opportunity brought about by the introduction of the "Nansha Plan", strengthen the coordination between Hong Kong and Macao, adhere to planning ahead, pay close attention to the implementation of major platforms, major projects and major policies such as the Guangzhou Lingang Economic Zone and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Joint Trading Center for Shipping, accelerate the construction of a world-class international shipping hub, providing strong port and shipping support for realizing the new vitality of the old city, “Making brilliant innovations and achievements in four aspects”, and accelerating the improvement of the overall service level of the port cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In recent years, Nansha District has been committed to taking Nansha Port as an important fulcrum to serve the “Belt and Road Initiative”, and strengthen the core engine function and the international comprehensive transportation hub function of the Greater Bay Area. In reliance on the construction of a number of major infrastructures such as Nansha Phases III and IV, Nansha International Logistics Center and Nansha Port railway, the functions of Nansha International Shipping and Logistics Hub have been continuously improved to better serve the new development pattern of domestic and international dual cycles. The construction of Nansha Phase IV fully automated terminal is also a key task in the Overall Plan of Guangzhou Nansha for Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Comprehensive Cooperation Facing the World.

The construction of Nansha Phase IV terminal has created a number of “world firsts”: the world’s first fully automated terminal for river-sea-rail multimodal transport, the world's largest fully automated terminal with horizontal layout, the world's first driverless intelligent guided vehicles with Beidou navigation, and the world's most intelligent fully automated terminal information system. In addition to achieving a number of "world firsts”, the terminal also embodies a number of Chinese innovative technologies, and set a number of “domestic firsts” records, such as the first “sponge port” in China, smart green port with integrated pipe ducts, and homemade software of full-function modules of the information system. In particular, the concept of sponge city is introduced for the first time in the port project. The auxiliary construction area for living uses sponge facilities such as green roofs, permeable pavements, and sunken green spaces to control the total runoff, peak value and pollution during rain and floods. The storage yard area uses the design idea of concave site, which can provide an additional volume of 40,000m³ for water collection, thus improving the ability of flood absorption and disaster reduction. The terminal is of milestone significance for advancing the construction of the smart port, promoting the upgrading of port services, enhancing the interconnection of industries adjacent to the port in the Bay Area, improving the comprehensive competitiveness of port logistics and the agglomeration and radiating force of Guangzhou Port, and making Nansha Port Area a major channel to the sea for the economic hinterland of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to fully and deeply participate in the construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative".

Nansha Phase IV, as a project jointly built by Guangzhou, Foshan and Zhongshan, cooperates with many national brand enterprises such as Shanghai Zhenhua, CCCC Fourth Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. and Huadong Electronics to jointly build a fully automated container terminal "Guangzhou Plan", which will play an active role in promoting in-depth cooperation and integrated development of the Greater Bay Area, and jointly building a high-level industrial chain and logistics chain for internal and external connections.

During the construction of the terminal, Guangzhou Port Authority, Customs, Maritime Affairs, Border Inspection and other port departments have given great attention and support to the construction of the port, such as intelligent supervision, so that the terminal construction and test operations can be advanced in an orderly manner. Nansha Customs has assisted in the construction of port intelligent supervision in advance, promoted the application of 5G, "AI+AR" and other high & new technologies in customs supervision, so as to build intelligent customs supervision, provide information support for the rapid customs clearance of import and export goods, and realize paperless and fast customs clearance of import and export goods in the whole process. After the Phase IV automated terminal is put into use, it will further improve the efficiency of logistics connection of domestic and foreign trade goods, and superimpose basic hardware advantages of Nansha Port railway and innovative mechanisms such as “Integrated Customs Clearance in Bay Area", so that the function of the Nansha international shipping and logistics hub will be further enhanced. (Text by Zhang Minmin, Zou Jingqi, and Xu Yanting, Picture by Zhu Junkun, Xiao Yifei, Li Qijun, and Huang Yong’an)