Guangzhou, China (ANTARA/Xinhua-Asianet)- Recently, seven journalists from leading media from APEC member economies visited Guangdong as part of the APEC China Year international media tour. As a key gateway for China’s opening up in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and a strategic hub connecting the Asia-Pacific market, Nansha District, Guangzhou was a key stop on the media tour. The Nansha visit was jointly organized by the News & Information Center of Xinhua News Agency Guangdong Bureau and the Publicity Department of the CPC Nansha District Committee.
At the Phase IV Automated Terminal of Guangzhou Port’s Nansha Port Area, they witnessed fleets of autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) shuttling seamlessly across the terminal, automated quay cranes handling containers with pinpoint precision, and round-the-clock operations powered by cutting-edge technology. The visit offered the international media a firsthand look at China’s advances in smart port development and high-level opening up.
Puti Iylia Maisarah, a reporter with the Malaysian National News Agency, said it was her first visit to a fully automated container terminal. “In the future, Chinese consumers will be able to enjoy Malaysian durians even sooner, while Malaysia will gain faster access to high-quality products made in China.” Surachai Picharttham, an editor with Thailand’s Manager Online , added, “I’ve been to Guangzhou before, but this time I’ve seen even more of the city’s rapid technological progress.”
An Accelerating Gateway Connecting Global Trade Networks
As a key international shipping hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Nansha District, Guangzhou is steadily strengthening its capacity to connect global resources and facilitate international trade. The Phase IV Terminal at Guangzhou Port’s Nansha Port Area is one of the world’s most advanced fully automated container terminals integrating river, sea and rail transport. In the first half of this year, container throughput at the terminal increased by 18% year on year. Vessel schedule reliability remained close to 100%, peak daily throughput exceeded 18,000 TEUs, and the average gate processing time for external container trucks was reduced by 10.43% compared with the same period last year.
Leveraging its world-class port resources, Nansha continues to enhance its integrated multimodal transport system integrating sea, land, air and rail. In 2025, container throughput at the Nansha Port Area exceeded 22.6 million TEUs. The port now operates more than 180 international shipping routes, connecting over 300 ports in more than 120 countries and regions, with an international logistics network extending across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and South America.
Meanwhile, the “One Port Pass” reform continues to gather momentum. With Nansha Port serving as the central hub, the initiative links 22 inland river terminals across Guangdong Province with four inland rail ports in provinces including Hunan and Guizhou, enabling imports and exports to be processed through a single declaration, a single inspection and a single release. As a result, average cargo storage time has been reduced from seven days to less than two.
Nansha’s high-level opening-up platforms are also being upgraded. The National Going Global Comprehensive Service Center for Chinese Enterprises has been established in Nansha, with a service network spanning 76 countries and regions. To date, it has served 2,698 enterprises, assisted 385 companies in completing the filing procedures for 602 outbound investment projects, and provided review services for APEC Business Travel Cards for 400 enterprises, further improving the convenience and efficiency of international business expansion.
Digital Empowerment Fuels Trade and Strengthens the Cross-Border Services Ecosystem
Leveraging its strengths as a national-level new area and pilot free trade zone, Nansha is accelerating the development of a comprehensive service ecosystem covering the entire lifecycle of cross-border trade. Built around eight core service pillars, including customs, taxation, foreign exchange, financing, warehousing, certification, commerce and logistics, it is driving deeper integration between logistics, industry, finance and digital services. Leading platform companies such as SHEIN, Pinduoduo, Douyin and AliExpress, together with the Asia-Pacific distribution centers of global brands including Mead Johnson and Danone, have established operations in Nansha, further enriching its cross-border trade ecosystem.
According to Wang Haishi, General Manager of Guangzhou Nansha Kaijian Foreign Trade Comprehensive Services Co., Ltd., blockchain technology enables the integration of four key business flows, namely contracts, invoices, capital and logistics, making the entire cross-border trading process fully traceable while significantly improving the efficiency of tax refund, financing and settlement services.
Official data show that in 2025, Nansha’s total foreign trade reached RMB 295.99 billion, up 13.2% year on year. Cross-border e-commerce imports and exports through the Nansha Comprehensive Bonded Zone approached RMB 74 billion, ranking first among China’s comprehensive bonded zones for the sixth consecutive year.
Nansha’s development prospects are attracting growing interest from international businesses. Li Qile, General Manager for the Greater Bay Area at HSBC Bank (China), noted that Nansha is rapidly bringing together industries, talent, capital and innovation resources to become a key gateway connecting China with the rest of the world. A product line manager for air conditioners at TCL Europe Business Group said that Nansha serves not only as an important manufacturing and operational base, but also as a strategic springboard for expanding into global markets.
Institutional Innovation Unlocks New Momentum for Openness
Institutional opening up continues to deepen, injecting fresh momentum into the high-quality development of cross-border trade. Backed by a series of major national, provincial and municipal policies, including the Master Plan of Guangzhou Nansha on Deepening Comprehensive Cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao with Global Perspective (the Nansha Plan ), Nansha has continued to improve its policy framework for cross-border trade while unlocking the dividends of reform. Since the implementation of regional tax incentives, preferential 15% corporate income tax and individual income tax policies have generated cumulative tax savings of RMB 2.32 billion and RMB 150 million, respectively.
Financial innovation has also continued to break new ground. Guided by Nansha’s 30 Financial Measures, the district has taken the lead in piloting reforms in cross-border investment and financing, Free Trade (FT) Accounts and the m-CBDC Bridge platform. Through FT accounts, banks provide tailor-made foreign exchange risk management solutions for trading companies, reducing average foreign exchange costs by 3% to 5%. Meanwhile, 30 enterprises have completed capital account transactions totaling USD 546 million, significantly improving the efficiency of cross-border capital flows.
At the same time, customs, immigration inspection and other authorities have continued to advance regulatory innovation by introducing facilitation measures such as “advance declaration, scheduled customs clearance, and the export supervision warehouse + direct maritime shipment” model. China’s first one-stop supervision model for cross-border e-commerce export returns has been selected by the Ministry of Commerce as a national best practice. Government services covering foreign affairs, taxation, intellectual property and other areas have also been integrated, enabling businesses to access preferential policies immediately upon application and further fostering a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized world-class business environment. Mecca Yumna, a reporter with Indonesia’s ANTARA News Agency, said she hoped Indonesia and China would further strengthen technological exchanges and knowledge sharing to achieve mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.
From smart ports and digital trade to institutional innovation and industrial clustering, Nansha is steadily enhancing its capacity to allocate global resources while accelerating its development into an international cross-border trade hub in the Greater Bay Area, serving the Asia-Pacific with a global vision. The APEC China Year international media tour also gave journalists a close-up view of Guangdong’s tangible progress in advancing high-level opening up and high-quality development.
Source: The Publicity Department of Nansha District