A cruise ship passes Xiamen city. Xiamen Port was operating 162 container shipping routes by the end of June.

Located in the southern part of East China's Fujian province, Xiamen Port has long played a significant role in cross-Straits communication and striven to become an international logistics hub.

Xiamen Port's ability to serve cross-Straits integration and development has been significantly enhanced in recent years. The port's freight transportation to Taiwan has seen rapid growth, making it the largest port of entry for fruits and alcohol from Taiwan to the Chinese mainland.

The third phase of the Xiamen Wutong Passenger Wharf has been completed. The wharf promotes passenger transport between Xiamen and Kinmen island, Taiwan. With six berths and 100,000 square meters of waiting space, the wharf is capable of handling 3.5 million passengers a year.

Xiamen Port is becoming an increasingly important player in the international shipping community. To date, the port has established friendly ties with 15 foreign ports and hosted three editions of the Silk Road Maritime International Cooperation Forum.

As of June 30, there were 259 members of the Silk Road Maritime Alliance. The world's top 20 shipping companies have all set up branches in Xiamen.

Xiamen Port has launched China's first Belt and Road cruise route. In 2019, the port handled 136 cruise ship trips, ranking second nationally. The number of cruise ship passengers handled topped 413,000, coming fourth nationwide.

The container volume of shipping routes to and from countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative operated by Xiamen Port increased from 834,700 twenty-foot equivalent units in 2016 to 1.63 million TEUs in 2021. The average annual growth rate came to 14.61 percent.

As of the end of June, Xiamen Port was operating 162 container shipping routes, which could reach 146 ports in 53 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Germany and Italy. Of them, there were 110 international routes－23 more than the 2016 figure.

The port has been recognized as one of the first ports serving as a logistics hub.

To further expand overseas markets, Xiamen Port has increased shipping routes to Southeast Asia in recent years, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar, and achieved remarkable results.

In June, a batch of containers with cross-border e-commerce products such as clothing, shoes and hats were sent to the Philippines.

Ye Rong, deputy general manager of Xiamen Container Terminal Group, said the first fast e-commerce shipping route in Southeast Asia was opened by Xiamen Port. It only takes two days to reach South Harbor in Manila, the Philippines.

In May, the Xiamen-Qingdao-Ho Chi Minh City trade route linking China and Vietnam started operating. With Xiamen Port as the hub, the route gives full play to its advantages in production capacity and makes foreign trade in Xiamen Port stronger.