Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port: “Four First-Class Standards” Highlight the Port’s Wisdom

Zhao Yali　Chen Zhiying

In the spring of 2017 when Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected Beibu Gulf Port， he made important instructions to write a new chapter of the Maritime Silk Road， develop seaward economy， and build， manage， and operate Beibu Gulf Port well with first-class facilities， technologies， management， and services.

Over the past five years， through hard work， Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group （Beibu Gulf Port Group） has scored good results in achieving the four first-class standards. Meanwhile， it also showed great wisdom during the process.

First-class facilities： build core competitiveness

Over the past five years， taking opportunities of the New Western Land-Sea Trade Corridor as a national strategy， Beibu Gulf Port has prioritized key engineering projects， strengthened the construction of port infrastructure， and built a number of high-grade waterways and large berths.

So far， Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port has built a 300，000-ton oil terminal， a 150，000-ton container berth， and a 200，000-ton waterway. 34.6% of its berths are large deep-water berths that can accommodate ships of more than 100，000 tons， far exceeding the national average level of coastal ports. Specialized berths in coastal ports have increased from accounting 11.4% to 36%， which significantly increased the level of port specialization. Beibu Gulf Port serves as a major force in developing the seaward economy in Guangxi.

2021 is the first year of the 14th Five-Year Period. This year， Beibu Gulf Port has strode forward in building first-class facilities， for example， completing the construction of China’s first sea-rail combined automatic container terminal that first adopts a U-shape design in the world. This has promoted the transformation of the Port’s production and operation from traditional to high-quality and intelligent.

First-class technologies： scale to new heights

Since 2017， among the major coastal ports in China， the cargo throughput of Beibu Gulf Port has risen from 15th to 9th and its container throughput from 16th to 8th， ranking first in the growth rate for four consecutive years. The high-quality development of Beibu Gulf Port has become the highlight of Guangxi.

Over the five years， Beibu Gulf Port Group has obtained nine new practical patents and three computer software copyrights， and completed the projects of “R&D of the key technologies of bulk cargo digital storage yard” and “container intelligent tally system”， both of which have reached the advanced level in China. With the application of first-class technologies such as AI， 5G， driverless technology， and Beidou positioning， Beibu Gulf Port has ushered in a new development era.

In addition， Beibu Gulf Port’s customer service platform “bbwport” has initially realized the one-stop service of port business handling， reducing 37 manual operations and 28 paper documents in port customs clearance and saving more than 20 hours on average; The time for imported goods’ customs clearance has been shortened from 253.54 hours in 2017 to 24.69 hours in 2021， free users from running for handling customs clearance by using technologies.

First-class management： improve the ability

Over the five years， while strengthening the construction of first-class facilities， technologies， and services， Beibu Gulf Port Group has also continuously improved its management ability.

In accordance with international standards， Beibu Gulf Port Group improved itself with first-class management， enhanced oversight where appropriate， activated the inner power of the Group， and passed three certifications， namely ISO quality management system， occupational health and safety management system， and environmental management system， greatly improving the loading and unloading efficiency of ships and the operation efficiency of containers.

In recent years， Beibu Gulf Port Group has implemented the three-year action plan for state-owned enterprise reform. In 2021， all 10 reform tasks assigned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have been completed.

In terms of corporate governance structure， the internal operation efficiency of the Group has been continuously optimized. Beibu Gulf Port Group has optimized the Party Committee’s pre-research mechanism for major issues， clarify the list of pre-research issues and the Party Committee’s decision-making list， standardize the research and decision-making procedures， and make clear the rights and responsibility boundaries of the Party Committee， the board of directors， and the general manager’s meeting. Besides， the Group has also increased the integration of relevant resources of the three ports to realize “one city， one port and one company”， reduce management positions， and further clarify their responsibilities and rights， thus improving the operation and management efficiency within the Group.

Beibu Gulf Port Group continued to strengthen internal management and regularly carried out internal audit and supervision on the management system. The Group adopted a whole-process method to audit a project， changing the audit process from auditing upon completing to auditing in advance， in the process， and in the whole process， and continuously improve the management ability to control and deal with risks.

First-class services： build Beibu Gulf Port into a good brand

Building the brand of Beibu Gulf Port with first-class services is an important factor driving the rapid development of the Port. Over the five years， Beibu Gulf Port has seized the opportunities of digitization， automation， and intelligence， strengthened the in-depth integration of new technologies such as the Internet and big data with various fields of the port， and made every effort to build an international shipping hub with the most favorable price， the highest efficiency， and the best services， its own reputation thus having been continuously improved.

Collection and distribution network has been continuously improved. In 2021， the number of special railways for Beibu Gulf Port increased to 110， an increase of 12 compared with 2017， completing the “last kilometer” for trains entering the port. With the continuous improvement of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor， container railway trains have reached 87 stations in 45 cities， 13 provinces and regions in China; The volume of container sea-rail combined transport reached 290，000 TEUs， 13.4 times that of 2017， accounting for 6.7%， higher than the national average level.

Route coverage continues to expand. The number of container liner routes in Beibu Gulf Port increased from 40 in 2017 to 63 in 2021， with an average annual increase of 12%; Domestic trade routes almost have covered all the major ports in China， while foreign trade routes have basically covered Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. Sea routes have increased from one in 2017 to seven in 2021， covering more than 200 ports in more than 100 countries and regions around the world.

Loading and unloading efficiency has been continuously improved. The utilization efficiency of container coastline has increased from 134，000 TEUs/100m in 2017 to 245，000 TEUs/100m in 2021， rising to No. 5 in the ranking of coastal ports in China; The efficiency of container liner has increased from 40 containers per hour in 2017 to 91 containers per hour in 2021， with an average annual growth of about 22.8%， and the maximum volume of a ship in an hour is 322.26 TEUs; The bridge crane operation efficiency in the Port is more than 30 containers per hour for three consecutive years， which is by highly praised by China Port Association.

Beibu Gulf port seized the historical opportunity of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation， accelerated the construction of smart port and green port， and improved the quality of its services. According to the customer satisfaction survey of the third-party organization， because of the continuous improvement of the service quality of Beibu Gulf Port in recent years， the customer satisfaction has increased from 85% in 2017 to 91% in 2021. The influence and competitiveness of Beibu Gulf International Hub Port have been further improved.

Beibu Gulf Port Group adheres to the principle of “ensuring stability while making progress”， makes efforts to achieve the four first-class standards， and shows the Port’s wisdom in the process. Like the red sun， an international hub port is on the rise.