Jointly Discussing a New Blueprint for Integrated Governance of the Yangtze River Delta’s World-Class Port Cluster — The Second Joint Meeting of Port Groups from the Four Provinces and One Municipality of the Yangtze River Delta Held in Nanjing

　　On April 14, to actively implement the relevant work arrangements and requirements of the Ministry of Transport and the governments of the four provinces (municipalities) in the Yangtze River Delta, the Shanghai Port Coordination Office organized the second joint meeting of the port groups of the four provinces (municipalities) in Nanjing. The meeting comprehensively summarized the achievements of the coordinated development of the world-class port cluster in the Yangtze River Delta since the first joint meeting, discussed key measures for deepening cooperation in the next stage, and reviewed and approved the "Key Points of Work for the Joint Meeting of Port Groups in the Four Provinces (Municipalities) of the Yangtze River Delta for 2026" (referred to as "Key Points of Work"), marking a new stage of substantial advancement and key breakthroughs in the construction of the integrated governance system for the port cluster.

　　The "Key Points of Work" clarified the direction for the next stage of work: First, improve and deepen the consultation mechanism. Second, collaboratively promote project cooperation, actively explore capital cooperation in port operations, further deepen regional port cooperation with capital as the link, and actively promote integrated cooperation in areas such as the construction of new energy refueling systems and the supporting facilities for electric ship port charging and battery swapping in the Yangtze River Delta port cluster. Third, enhance port service capabilities, assist in promoting data sharing, service coordination, and full-process visibility pilot projects in the shipping trade field of the Yangtze River Delta port and shipping ecosystem; advance the integration of management standards; promote the pilot project of anchorage reservation linkage at Shanghai Port and explore regional promotion and application. Fourth, build smart and green ports, continue to deepen the regional collaboration mechanism for ship and port pollution prevention, promote the use of shore power for ships and the substitution of clean energy; accelerate the construction of smart ports and smart waterways; continue to consolidate the implementation results of the "5G Embracing the Sea" action plan. Fifth, serve logistics cost reduction and efficiency improvement, implement the "single document" and "single container" service models for multimodal transport business; further increase the proportion of water-to-water transshipment and logistics operation efficiency, promote the construction of logistics stations and logistics hubs within port areas; push for adjustments in the transportation structure, further coordinate to improve the proportion of "new three types" water transport, transportation organization, and port service levels; promote the intensive operation of the shipping market, support Jiangsu and Anhui in conducting pilot projects for waterway cargo transportation network platform construction. Sixth, carry out integrated special research.

　　In recent years, the construction of ports in the Yangtze River Delta has achieved remarkable results, holding a pivotal position in the national port system. In 2025, ports above a designated size in the Yangtze River Delta completed a total cargo throughput of 7.133 billion tons, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year, accounting for 38.9% of the cargo throughput of ports above a designated size nationwide. During the same period, major ports in the Yangtze River Delta completed a container throughput of 139.993 million TEUs, an increase of 8.6% year-on-year, accounting for 39.5% of the total container throughput nationwide, fully demonstrating the leading position and comprehensive strength of the Yangtze River Delta ports in the country.

　　This meeting focused on establishing and improving the joint meeting mechanism of the port groups in the four provinces (municipalities), aiming to strengthen government-enterprise linkage, closely align with the two keywords of integration and high quality, focus on prominent issues and bottlenecks in the coordinated development of port regions, deepen mutual trust and exchange, strengthen cooperative coordination, make precise efforts, and implement practical policies, jointly promoting the construction of the world-class port cluster in the Yangtze River Delta to a new level, and making new and greater contributions to accelerating the construction of a strong transportation nation.

　　Representatives from the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, the Regional Coordinated Development Division of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Yangtze River Shipping Administration, the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Water Transport Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, as well as transportation, port, shipping, and port management departments of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, port, shipping, and railway enterprises, and industry associations attended the meeting.