The twenty-foot container equivalent units (TEU) throughput of Shanghai Port exceeded 47.3 million last year, outnumbering all the other ports in the world.

Such an achievement cannot be made without the port's consistent technological innovation, business model and the improved services of the local customs.

At the Yangshan Deep Water Port, one of Shanghai Port's main ports, barges with a small tonnage load and unload next to giant ocean-going liners almost every day.

These barges connect inland ports in the outskirts of the Yangtze River Delta region and Yangshan Port through an unloading linkage mechanism.

With the help of the mechanism, ports outside Shanghai can receive and unload goods in Yangshan Port. The imported and exported cargoes can be transported by barges between two ports and directly loaded and unloaded at Yangshan Port more efficiently.

In 2022, Shanghai Customs promoted the mechanism in Bengbu and Hefei in Anhui province. The service is available at 12 ports in four provinces in the Yangtze Delta River region.

According to an estimate by a freight forwarder, the logistics cost for exports can be lowered by 400 yuan ($59.68) per TEU, and the import cost can be cut by 200 yuan per TEU. A total of 343,000 TEUs benefited from the service last year.

The smart systems equipped in some of Shanghai Port's pilot ports have greatly cut delivery times, enabling goods to be transported to the port directly from the manufacturer.