Changyuan 003, a container ship loaded with export goods made in Zhongshan, embarked from the Xiaolan Port international container terminal on October 31, heading for its destination, the Yantian Port in Shenzhen. It marked the official opening of the combined ports route between Xiaolan Port and Yantian Port.

▲The Xiaolan Port international container terminal. (Photo/Miao Xiaojian)

It is the fifth Shenzhen-Zhongshan combined ports route opened in Zhongshan this year and the eighth in operation.

"Under the combined ports mode, the average storage period for goods exported from Zhongshan drops from to 2-3 days. It helps reduce logistics time costs and optimize the business environment of ports," said Chen Wenyan, deputy general manager of Zhongshan Xiaolangang Freight Joint Owned Co.

In the first 9 months of the year, Xiaolan Port saw a throughput capacity of about 2.52 million tons and a container throughput of about 343,000 TEUs.