China has 34 major

ports A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

and more than 2000 minor ports. The former are mostly sea ports (except for ports such as

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

and

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

along the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

and

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

in the Pearl river delta) opening up to the

Yellow sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour ter ...

(Bo Hai),

Taiwan straits The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a ...

Pearl river The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

and

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

while the latter comprise ports that lie along the major and minor rivers of China. Most of China's major cities are also ports or are facilitated by a port nearby.

Major ports

The major ports in China, listed North to South, consist of: 1. Dalian 2.

Yingkou Yingkou () is a coastal prefecture-level city of central southern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, on the northeastern shore of Liaodong Bay. It is the third-smallest city in Liaoning with a total area of , and the ninth most popul ...

Jinzhou Jinzhou (, ), formerly Chinchow, is a coastal prefecture-level city in central-west Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city located in the Liaoxi Corridor, which connects most of the land transports between North Chin ...

Qinhuangdao Qinhuangdao (; ) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population during the 2020 national ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao on the ...

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popul ...

8. Qingdao 9.

Rizhao Rizhao (), alternatively romanized as Jihchao, is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Shandong province, China. It is situated on the coastline along the Yellow Sea, and features a major seaport. It borders Qingdao to the northeast, Weifang t ...

10.

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives f ...

11.

Nantong Nantong (; alternate names: Nan-t'ung, Nantung, Tongzhou, or Tungchow; Qihai dialect: ) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. ...

12.

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...

13.

Jiangyin Jiangyin (, Jiangyin dialect: ) is a county-level city on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, and is administered by Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Jiangyin is one of the most important transport hubs on the Yangtze River, it is also one of the most d ...

14.

15.

16.

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

17. Zhoushan 18.

19. Taizhou (North of Wenzhou) 20.

Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east ...

21. Taizhou (South of Wenzhou) 22.

Changle (, Foochow Romanized: Diòng-lŏ̤h) is one of 6 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, China. It occupies a land area of and a sea area of . Changle was established in the sixth year of Em ...

23. Quanzhou 24.

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an ...

25. Shantou 26.

Jieyang Jieyang () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong Province (Yuedong), People's Republic of China, part of the Chaoshan region whose people speak Chaoshan Min distinct from neighbouring Yue speakers. It is historically important as th ...

27.

28.

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pear ...

29.

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

30.

Zhanjiang Zhanjiang (), historically spelled Tsamkong, is a prefecture-level city at the southwestern end of Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, facing Haikou city to the south. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,981,236 (6,994,832 ...

31. Beihai 32. Fangchenggang 33.

Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the ...

34.

Basuo Basuo is a town on the west coast of Hainan Province, China. It is the administrative center of the county-level city of Dongfang; in other words, Basuo is Dongfang's main urban area, and Basuo's location is usually shown on less-detailed maps b ...

Port construction and cargoes

China's coastal

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

s enable the

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

, imported iron ore, and grain; roll-on-roll-off operations between mainland and islands; and deep-water access to the sea. In port construction, China has especially strengthened the

container transport Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pr ...

system, concentrating on the construction of a group of deep-water container wharves at Dalian,

, Qingdao,

and

, and thus laying the foundations for China's container hubs. A new deep-water port has opened in Yangshan southeast of Shanghai. The coal transportation system has been further strengthened with the construction of a number of coal transport

wharves A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...

. In addition, wharves handling crude oil and iron ore imports have been reconstructed or expanded. At the end of 2004, China's coastal ports had over 2,500 berths of medium size or above, of which 650 were 10,000-ton-class berths; their handling capacity was 61.5 million standard containers for the year, ranking first in the world. Freight volumes handled by some large ports exceed 100 million tons a year; and the Shanghai, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo and Dalian have been listed among the world's top 50 container ports.. 130 of China's 2,000 ports are open to foreign ships. The major ports, including river ports accessible by

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

-going ships, are Beihai, Dalian, Dandong, Fuzhou,

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...

, Huangpu,

, Qingdao,

Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...

, Shantou,

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north ...

, and

By province

Jiangxi

* Port of Jiujiang

Fujian

* Port of Fuzhou *

Port of Quanzhou The Port of Meizhou Bay was created in 2012 by merging the ports of Quanzhou, Meizhou Island and Putian, as part of Fujian Province's rationalization of ports, which cutting down the number of ports in the province into three large consolidated po ...

* Port of Xiamen

Guangdong

Port of Guangzhou Port of Guangzhou is the main seaport of Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, China. The port is operated by Guangzhou Port Group Co. Ltd which is a state owned company. The company was established on February 26, 2004 from the former Guangzhou H ...

Port of Shenzhen The Port of Shenzhen is a collective name of a number of ports along parts of the coastline of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. These ports as a whole forms one of the busiest and fastest growing container ports in the world. The port is h ...

* Port of Shantou *

Port of Zhanjiang The Port of Zhanjiang is a natural deepwater harbor in Southeast China. It was designed and reconstructed as China's first modern port, the project being commenced in 1956. After nearly 50 years of construction, the existing 39 Wharf, wharves ...

* Shunde Port * Rongqi Port * Gaolan Port

Hainan

* Haikou New Port *

Haikou Port New Seaport Haikou Port New Seaport is a seaport located around 1 km north of South Port, Haikou, Hainan, China. It has 8 passenger and cargo berths, and a capacity for one million vehicles and 6 million passengers annually. It will become the main port r ...

* Haikou Xiuying Port * Macun Port * Port of Yangpu * South Port

Hebei

Caofeidian Caofeidian () is a land reclamation-converted economic development zone in Bohai Bay located in the eponymous district of Tangshan, Hebei Province, China.

Qinhuangdao Port Port of Qinhuangdao is a seaport on the Bohai Sea, located in the Haigang District of urban Qinhuangdao, Hebei, People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's ...

Hong Kong

* Container Terminal 9 *

Crooked Harbour Crooked Harbour or Kat O Hoi () is a harbour at the northeast of New Territories, Hong Kong. The harbour is connected to Double Haven and the bigger sea of Mirs Bay. Crooked Island, also known as Kat O, and several islands, including Ap Chau, for ...

Double Haven Double Haven or Yan Chau Tong () is a harbour enclosed by Double Island, Crescent Island and Crooked Island within the north-eastern New Territories of Hong Kong. It is known for its scenery and natural environment, and for the calm seas from ...

Gin Drinkers Bay Gin Drinkers Bay or Gin Drinker's Bay, also colloquially known as Lap Sap Wan, was a bay in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong. The bay was reclaimed in the 1960s and became Kwai Fong and part of Kwai Hing. At the mouth of the bay stood the island of Pil ...

Hongkong International Terminals Ltd. Hongkong International Terminals Limited (HIT) () is one of several key container port operators in the Port of Hong Kong owned by Hutchison Port Holdings, which is the largest port operator in Hong Kong and the world. HIT operates 12 berths i ...

Hebe Haven Hebe Haven, also known as Pak Sha Wan (), is a harbour on the south shore of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. The harbour has one opening to Port Shelter in its south. The Pak Sha Wan Peninsula, spanning south from Tsiu Hang () hugs the Hebe H ...

* Holt's Wharf * Inner Port Shelter *

Kwai Tsing Container Terminals Kwai Tsing Container Terminals is the main port facilities in the reclamation along Rambler Channel between Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong. It evolved from four berths of Kwai Chung Container Port () completed in the 1970s. It late ...

Long Harbour (Hong Kong) Long Harbour, also known as Tai Tan Hoi (), is a natural harbour formed from an inlet of Mirs Bay to the north of Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong. Geography The harbour is elongated in shape, with its mouth guarded by the island of Tap Mun (). Th ...

Modern Terminals Limited Modern Terminals Limited (Modern Terminals or MTL), is the second largest container terminal operator in Hong Kong, just after Hongkong International Terminals Limited. It operates terminal 1, 2, 5 and 9 (South) in Kwai Tsing Container Terminals ...

Mun Tsai Tong Mun Tsai Tong or Moon Tsai Tong () was a harbour located between northeast Tsing Yi Island and Nga Ying Chau in Hong Kong. It was reclaimed for the development of a new town on Tsing Yi Island in 1980s. The harbour became two public housing estat ...

Port of Hong Kong The Port of Hong Kong (), located by the South China Sea, is a deepwater seaport dominated by trade in containerised manufactured products, and to a lesser extent raw materials and passengers. A key factor in the economic development of Hong ...

River Trade Terminal The River Trade Terminal (RTT) is the only container terminal in Hong Kong for river cargo. The operator is known as River Trade Terminal Company Limited. Located in Siu Lang Shui / Pillar Point, within Tuen Mun Town, Tuen Mun District, it mainly ...

Rocky Harbour (Hong Kong) Rocky Harbour or Leung Shuen Wan Hoi () is a harbour at the south-east of Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong. Islands Several islands are hugging the harbour. It is adjacent to the former island of Leung Shuen Wan, also known as High Island. ;List ...

Port Shelter Port Shelter, known in Cantonese as Ngau Mei Hoi (), is a harbour south of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. The water body connects to Inner Port Shelter (known in Cantonese as Sai Kung Hoi; ), as well as Hebe Haven (), Rocky Harbour () and o ...

Starling Inlet Starling Inlet or Sha Tau Kok Hoi () is a harbour in northeast New Territories, Hong Kong. The whole body of water falls within the Closed Area and generally restricted to local residents. Features Settlements around the harbour include: Sha T ...

Tai Tam Harbour Tai Tam Harbour () is a harbour in the innermost part of Tai Tam Bay in the southeastern part of Hong Kong Island, in the Southern District of Hong Kong. It is located at the estuary of Tai Tam Tuk. Geography Tai Tam Harbour is a narrow i ...

* Three Fathoms Cove *

Tolo Harbour Tolo Harbour, or Tai Po Hoi (, historically ) is a sheltered harbour in northeast New Territories of Hong Kong. Geography Tide Cove aka. Sha Tin Hoi is to the south of the harbour, and Plover Cove, Three Fathoms Cove and Tolo Channel are to ...

Tsing Yi Tong Tsing Yi Lagoon, or Tsing Yi Tong, was a lagoon on the east shore of Tsing Yi Island in Hong Kong. Its water came from a stream in the nearby valley of Liu To and its outlet was at Tsing Yi Bay. It acted as the shelter for nearby boat people, ...

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental in ...

Jiangsu

* Port of Suzhou * Changshu Xinghua Port

Liaoning

Port of Dalian The Port of Dalian (38° 55' N 121° 41' E) founded in 1899 lies at the southern tip of Liaodong Peninsula in Liaoning province and is the most northern ice-free port in China. It is also the largest multi-purpose port in Northeast China serving t ...

Port of Jinzhou The Port of Jinzhou is a seaport on the Bohai Sea in the vicinity of Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and ...

Port of Yingkou The Port of Yingkou is an international seaport in Yingkou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest port in northeast China and the tenth-largest nationwide. It includes two separate dockland areas, the ''Yingkou old port'' a ...

Macau

* Kai Ho Port * Macau Container Port

Shandong

* Port of Weihai *

Port of Yantai The Port of Yantai is a seaport on the Bohai Sea in the vicinity of Yantai, Shandong, People's Republic of China. History As of December 14, 2011 the port had handled 200 million tonnes of cargo, becoming the 10th port in China that has a through ...

* Qingdao Port * Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal

Shanghai

* Port of Shanghai *

Yangshan Port Yangshan Port ( Chinese: , p ''Yángshān Gǎng'', Wu ''Yan-se Kaon''), formally the Yangshan Deep-Water Port (, p ''Yángshān Shēnshuǐ Gǎng'', Wu ''Yan-se Sen-sy Kaon''), is a deep water port for container ships ...

Tianjin

Port of Tianjin The Port of Tianjin (''Tianjin Gang'', ), formerly known as the Port of Tanggu, is the largest port in Northern China and the main maritime gateway to Beijing. The name "Tianjin Xingang" (), which strictly speaking refers only to the main seaport ...

Zhejiang

Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan is the busiest port in the world in terms of cargo tonnage. It handled 888.96 million tons of cargo in 2015. The port is located in Ningbo and Zhoushan, on the coast of the East China Sea, in Zhejiang province on ...

References

China Factfile > Transport, Post and Telecommunications :Ports

List of ports in China
Sorted by province.

Information/News on Chinese Ports. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ports in China China China transport-related lists