Editor’s Note
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Tangshan Port Jingtang Harbour District has experienced a decade of extraordinary development in its history. Over the past decade, Tangshan Port Group has held high the banner, persevered with practice and drove the world-shaking changes to take place in all fields, so that it produced an excellent report card of high-quality development. Tangshan Port Group WeChat Official Account, together with that of Tangshan Port Co., Ltd. launched “Over the past decade” series of reports to retrospect the past struggles, overlook the future and celebrate the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the CPC.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, led by the “Three Trying-to-Build Objectives” set by General Secretary XI Jinping, Tangshan Port Group has been actively responding to the “Belt and Road” initiative and the strategy of coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and has been vigorously developing and expanding domestic and foreign trade routes of containers to strengthen the marine transport capability and fully promote the rapid development of container transport. In the past decade, the number of container routes in Tangshan Port Jingtang Harbour District has increased from 13 to 46, which formed a container transport system that integrated “one ring with multiple branches” (Branch Route Around the Bohai Sea and domestic trade branch route) with near-ocean routes for foreign trade. The high-density routes cover the major coastal ports in China, 9 basic ports in Japan and South Korea and 26 partial ports in Japan, so it has become the container port with the most routes, the strongest capacity and the most complete functions in Hebei Province.
Go with Virtue for Win-win Cooperation
Over the past decade, supported by the provincial and municipal policy of promoting container development, Tangshan Port Hede Shipping Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hede Shipping”), as the entity of Tangshan Port Group’s shipping business, has continuously developed domestic and foreign container markets through its proprietary routes and attracted many large shipping companies such as China COSCO Shipping, Antong int’l Logistics and Zhonggu Shipping to set sail here. The number of domestic trade routes has increased from 12 to 28 and the number of routes around the Bohai Sea has grown from zero to 13, which cover all domestic trade container routes in major ports in Southwest China, South China, Fujian, and East China, as well as those the Yangtze River and around the Bohai Sea. The shipping network system is becoming growingly complete.
Hede Shipping has been innovating the cooperation and development modes through cooperation between routes and companies, between ports and routes and between ports and ports, and densifying the layout of routes to make the products of hinterland companies reach the world. Influenced by Hede Shipping, many freight forwarders, logistics companies and customs brokers have also set up their branches or representative offices in Tangshan, so the port’s friend circle is expanding constantly.
Work together to build a better future. Nowadays, Jingtang Harbour District has developed into a hub port for domestic trade container transport around the Bohai Sea, a basic port for foreign trade near-sea routes and an important channel of the Maritime Silk Road.
Stand at the Frontline, Dare to a Pioneer
The development and expansion of foreign trade routes is regarded not only as an indispensable part of Jingtang Harbour District as an international trade port, but also as the only way to play the leading role in opening up. In 2011, in order to open the foreign trade market, confronted by the complicated economic environment and severe market test, Tangshan Port Group withstood the pressure and rose to the challenge by vigorously strengthening the market, stabilizing the supply of goods and expanding business, and proactively promoted the self-rent ships to open the first foreign trade container liner ship line in our province—Jingtang-to-Pusan Route. Since then, Hede Shipping has shouldered the historical responsibility for developing the foreign trade container market of our port.
Over the past decade, Hede Shipping has been building its strength to get reborn. On the basis of stabilizing the Pusan Route, it continued to develop shipping routes, and has achieved constant new breakthroughs in the foreign trade container transport system. In 2017, Hede (Hong Kong) International Shipping Co., Ltd. was registered and established, and secured the qualification of international liner transportation. Having opened the routes between Jingtang and Japan’s Kanto and Kansai areas, the Jingtang Port Area’s container foreign trade is expanding to a wider ocean. In November 2020, it was approved to operate Pyeongtaek Route in South Korea, and opened the international container liner ship line between Tangshan Port and Pyeongtaek Port in South Korea. Since then, it has realized the high-density full coverage of the ports in Japan and South Korea, and created a new engine for Jingtang Harbour District to accelerate the enhancement of such functions, including opening up and leading, industrial aggregation and trade service.
The development of container foreign trade routes of Jingtang Harbour District from nothing have completely changed the situation where Tangshan, even Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and the hinterland enterprises in the northwest region could only ship goods from the ports in other provinces. Over the years, Hede Shipping has maintained the stable operation of foreign trade container liner routes between Japan and South Korea by its own efforts, which strongly supported the development of Tangshan’s foreign trade economy, and has made active contributions to the construction of Tangshan as a window city of economic cooperation in the Northeast Asian Region.
Ride on the Momentum, Seek Innovative Development
Over the past decade, relying on the layout of the shipping network and the situation of the shipping market, Hede Shipping has persisted in improving the team structure and network marketing system, and its operation and management ability has been continuously improving. So far, it has become a more market-oriented and professional shipping company with both domestic and foreign trade container routes.
The company has established branches in more than 30 major port cities in China, as well as in Japan and South Korea successively. Besides, it has cultivated a number of preeminent shipping route operators and managers and has built a capable marketing team. Its transportation network system is increasingly complete.
In the era of highly-developed information technology, Hede Shipping takes advantage of the opportunity. By integrating the “Internet + Shipping” mode into its development, it has developed the Hede ship booking operation system and set up the Hede Tianxia online ship booking platform. Especially since the outbreak of COVID-19, in the face of difficulties in offline sales, the company quickly shifted its focus on “live streaming and e-commerce” and started live streaming sales, becoming the first to sell crabs in the shipping field.
The innovative development of Hede Shipping over the past decade has ensured the smooth opening and stable operation of shipping routes, consolidated the leading position of Jingtang Harbour District in the container development of the province, smoothen the hinterland companies’ maritime logistics channel leading to all parts of the country, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, and promoted the integrated development of port, industry and city and the continuous improvement of economic level of our city.
Bear the Mission and Forge Ahead
Forge ahead on a new journey and make contributions to a new era. In the future, Hede Shipping will continue to fulfill the responsibility of developing the market and expanding the routes, keep honest and sincere, and make long-term contributions to the high-quality development of the port transformation and upgrading, so as to make solid contributions to Tangshan Port’s development into a world-class comprehensive trade port.