Shandong Port Group (SPG) has been ramping up efforts to build itself into a world-class port group, said Huo Gaoyuan, chairman of the company.

Qingdao Port, a branch of Shandong Port Group [Photo/IC]

The company, which was consolidated in August 2019, has integrated many of the province's major ports, including Qingdao Port, Yantai Port, Rizhao Port, as well as Bohai Bay Port Group in order to maximize port resources and eliminate regional competition.

"The first step to speeding up the construction of a world-class ocean port group is figuring out what is a world-class ocean port group," said Huo.

Huo noted that although SPG has taken the lead in throughput after its establishment, its development mode is still dominated by loading and unloading, transshipment, as well as other traditional businesses, while the development of emerging businesses has been insufficient.

He made a comparison between SPG to the Port of London to further explain. Although the Port of London has an annual throughput of only over 50 million tons, which is far less than that of SPG, it is a recognized international shipping center in the world. About 95 percent of the Port of London's income and profit comes from the service industry, financial trade, and industry-city integration, while more than 70 percent of SPG's income and profit comes from traditional businesses.

SPG has started to integrate traditional business with modern logistics, services, and financial trade.

"I have been engaged in port construction and terminal business for 30 years. I never thought that one day I would do trade, let alone that there would be so much room for the development of port trade," said Liu Jin, a senior manager at SPG.

Established in March 2020, the Shandong Ports International Trade Group achieved revenue of 13.6 billion yuan ($2.09 billion) last year and 21.6 billion yuan in the first half of this year, up five-fold year-on-year.

Li Fengli, general manager of SPG, said that according to the development plan, traditional businesses and emerging businesses will account for 50 percent respectively of the company's business by 2025, while the profit contribution rate of emerging businesses will account for 70 percent by 2035.