Guangzhou has surpassed Tokyo to become the world's 12th international shipping center by comprehensive capabilities, according to the 2025 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development Index. Domestically, it ranked 4th trailing only Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Ningbo-Zhoushan.

In this year's ranking, top 10 international shipping center cities are Singapore, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, Rotterdam, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Athens-Piraeus, Hamburg, and New York-New Jersey.

Little change is seen among top-ranking cities, and major Chinese shipping centers have seen their positions rise steadily during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). Specifically, Shanghai and Hong Kong maintained their third and fourth places among global peers, while Ningbo-Zhoushan (rising to 7th), Guangzhou (rising to 12th), Qingdao (rising two positions to 13th) and Tianjin (rising one position to 18th) all improved their rankings on the list, said the report.

Guangzhou Port is one of China's largest domestic container hubs, with a cargo throughput of 680 million tons in 2024, ranking fifth globally, and a container throughput of 26.45 million TEUs, ranking sixth globally last year. 

Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centers Development Index is a comprehensive evaluation index jointly compiled by Xinhua Index Department of CEIS and Baltic Exchange to study the development of global key shipping centers. It is one of the most authoritative and influential evaluation systems in the global shipping field. This annual report, now in its 12th year, ranks the world’s leading shipping centres based on a comprehensive evaluation of port factors, professional business services, and the general environment.

By 2026, Guangzhou Port is expected to achieve a cargo throughput of 700 million tons, container throughput of 27 million TEUs, sea-rail intermodal volume of 800,000 TEUs, and vehicle throughput of 1.6 million units. 

Source: Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office