On the morning of August 18, 2023, the "three-year action plan for the construction of world-class port clusters in Shandong Province (2023-2025)" (hereinafter referred to as the "plan") was held at the Qingdao Port Automation Terminal in Shandong Province. The provincial government policy briefing and the launch ceremony for the construction and key projects of world-class port clusters in Shandong Province were held grandly.

Ports are important hubs in the comprehensive transportation network, as well as strategic resources and important support for high-quality development in the new era.

In recent years, the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and Government have advanced planning and high-level promotion, and have successively completed several major port integration actions, integrating the resources of Qingdao Port, Rizhao Port, Yantai Port, Weihai Port, Weifang Port, Dongying Port, and Binzhou Port, forming the Shandong Provincial Port Group. The port integration reform has achieved fruitful results. As of the end of 2022, there are 638 productive berths in Shandong coastal ports, with a total throughput capacity of 1.02 billion tons. We have 25 large berths with a capacity of 200000 tons or above, ranking first in the coastal area of China. We also have the world's largest ore terminal, crude oil terminal, container terminal, and cruise dedicated terminal. The number of routes ranks first among ports in northern China; Open 35 inland ports. We have built a number of national and even global leading projects, including the first and second phases of the Qingdao Port Container Automation Terminal, the Qingdao Port Container Intelligent Air Rail System, the Rizhao Port Coastal Open Container Terminal, and the Yantai Port Crude Oil Pipeline Intelligent Brain System. At present, Shandong Port, which is undergoing reform and progress, has formed a pattern of coordinated development with Qingdao Port as the leader, Rizhao Port and Yantai Port as the backbone, Weihai Port, Dongying Port, Weifang Port, Binzhou Port, and other ports, laying a solid foundation for building a world-class port group.

The comprehensive launch of world-class port cluster construction is an important support for promoting the construction of a modern and strong province in Shandong and achieving high-quality development. It is an important measure to serve the ecological protection and high-quality development strategy of the Yellow River Basin, an important lever to integrate into the new development pattern, expand Shandong's advantages in opening up to the outside world, and an important content to accelerate the construction of a strong transportation demonstration zone in Shandong. In July 2023, the relevant national planning entrusted the Shandong coastal port group with the major mission of collaborating with the Tianjin Hebei coastal port group and the Liaoning coastal port group to jointly build a world-class port group around the Bohai Sea. Editor/Zhao E