According to the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centers Development Index, Guangzhou port ranks 16th in the world in 2019, an improvement from 28th in 2015. The volume of cargo and the container throughput of Guangzhou port ranks among the top 5 busiest ports in the world.

The container terminal at Nansha port.

In the first 11 months of 2019, there were more than 573 million tons of cargo throughput and over 21 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of container throughput at Guangzhou port, up 11.4% and 5.83% year-on-year respectively. The container throughput is expected to reach 23 million TEU by the end of the year.

Furthermore, 8 overseas container trade lines were established in 2019. There are currently a total of 217 ship routes connecting Guangzhou port with other continents, including 111 foreign trade lines and 92 routes departure to countries along the Belt and Road.

In recent years, Guangzhou has also become one of the Portsmouth China offering the most number of cruise routes. The Nansha International Cruise Port has opened 9 routes with 12 different destinations, such as Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

In December 2019, two foreign offices for Guangzhou port were newly set up in Vietnam and Cambodia. To date Guangzhou port has opened 6 overseas offices covering North America, Europe, Singapore and Taiwan.

In addition, there were new sister port relationships established between Guangzhou and 8 other ports worldwide in 2019, including Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Rio in Brazil, Ras AI Khaimah in UAE, Osaka in Japan and South Korea's Busan, Incheon, Yeosu and Ulsan. Now Guangzhou has 52 sister ports across the world, including 16 ports along the Belt and Road.

Since 2016, Guangzhou has provided professional training for 175 individuals from 12 Belt and Road countries, including Indonesia, Angola, Djibouti, Egypt, Fiji, Gabon, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Solomon Islands, Sudan and Thailand.

Further to these achievements, the 2019 IAPH World Ports Conference was held in Guangzhou on May 8th. The event, as an important platform of global port and shipping industry, gathered about 1,000 representatives from over 50 countries and 47 exhibitors. Guangzhou port signed a series of cooperation agreements with relevant companies, focusing on the fields of environmental protection and 5G technology.

In the upcoming year, the city is going to develop its port and shipping infrastructure further, including the construction of Nansha port railway, Nansha port phase 4, Xinsha port phase 2 and a deep-water channel widening project.