East China Port Becoming International HubTrunk lines from or via the port of Qingdao, a scenic seaside city in east China, reach almost every part of the globe, making the port a key international hub, according to sources.Every month 260 regular container ships, more than 80 or one third from international lines, navigate in and out the port. Over the years since it became the first transfer port for container transport in the country, the Qingdao Port has endeavored to open international trunk lines and related subsidiary lines to set up a nautical transfer network with the port at its core. Last year, the port opened new routes to the east and west coasts of the United States, the Red Sea, Japan, Hong Kong and Bushan in the Republic of Korea. The transportation volume via the port also increased substantially. Container volumes of shipping-lines to US west coast, US east coast and European Mediterranean coasts went up last year by 32.3 percent, 324 percent and 31.7 percent respectively from the previous year, according to statistics. So far, a group of foreign ship companies, like the MSC and APL have opened transfer business at the port, the sources said. |
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