A container carrier berths at Zhoushan Port. [Photo/WeChat account: zjzsrbs]

Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province has invested 15.5 billion yuan ($2.44 billion) in water transportation facilities over the past three years, ranking first in the province and accounting for 30 percent of the province's total investment, local media reported on Feb 13.

The city has established 17 10,000-ton or above berths from 2019 to 2021, bringing the total number to 84.

"Infrastructure offers strong support to the shipping industry in Zhoushan as well as its integration into the world-class port cluster construction in the Yangtze River Delta region," said Yang Jiangang from the Zhoushan municipal bureau of shipping and port.

Yang noted that over the past three years, the city has made full use of its advantages in deep-water shorelines to accelerate the construction of the largest professional terminal cluster in the world.

The 450,000-metric ton Shihua terminal on Cezi Island is the largest crude oil terminal in China, and can satisfy the demands of petrochemical companies in the YRD and along the Yangtze River. The two 400,000-ton ore berths at Shulanghu terminal can accommodate the largest bulk cargo ship in the world while the Huangzeshan and Waidiao terminals houses 11 250,000-ton and above berths.

In addition, Zhoushan also completed the expansion of the 300,000-ton artificial waterway at Xiazhimen anchorage and the construction of the 400,000-ton Shiyimen waterway. Currently, the city has 1,500 kilometers of waterways.

This year, Zhoushan plans to invest 11 billion yuan in water transportation facilities, up more than 100 percent compared with last year.

Construction of the No 4 and 5 berths at Dapukou terminal in Jintang port area is expected to be completed by the end of this year. These berths will increase the annual container throughput of Jintang port area to 2.5 million TEUs.