After the corona case: China reopens the terminal at the world's third largest freight port

In China, the authorities have reopened the terminal at the port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, which was closed due to a corona case.

At the Meishan terminal, work could gradually start again, the Chinese state television reported on Wednesday, citing the local authorities.

It will be fully available again from September 1st.

The port of Ningbo-Zhoushan around 250 kilometers south of Shanghai is the third largest cargo port in the world;

In 2020, almost 1.2 billion tons of goods were handled there.

Closure after corona infection

The Meishan Terminal had been closed after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus on August 11.

According to Chinese media reports, almost 2,000 dock workers were put under surveillance and were no longer allowed to leave the port.

In May, the Chinese port of Yantian in the commercial metropolis of Shenzhen was closed for a month after a worker tested positive for the virus.

The backlog at the port caused enormous restrictions in shipping traffic.

The Federal Statistical Office also published the latest export figures on Wednesday. According to this, the China business of German exporters shrank in July for the first time in almost a year. The exports to the second largest economy in the world fell by 3.9 percent compared to the same month last year to 8.4 billion euros, as the authority in Wiesbaden announced. That was the first decline since August 2020 and at the same time the biggest minus since May 2020, when the People's Republic was still suffering from the first corona wave and German exports there had slumped by a good twelve percent. After the USA, China is the second largest buyer of goods “Made in Germany”.

Exports to the United States grew in July by 15.3 percent to 10.8 billion euros.

The world's largest economy is currently experiencing a strong upswing, not least thanks to government economic aid.

Business with Great Britain also grew at the beginning of the second half of the year: exports there rose by 5.6 percent to 5.8 billion euros.

Exports are growing again

Overall, exports to countries outside the European Union grew by 5.8 percent in July compared to the same month last year to 52.8 billion euros.

Measured against the previous month of June, calendar and seasonally adjusted, however, there was an expected decline of 2.7 percent.

Nevertheless, exports to these so-called third countries - which make up almost half of German exports - were 7.8 percent above the level of February 2020, the month before the restrictions due to the corona pandemic in Germany began.

These are the results of the new monthly leading indicator for foreign trade.

The Federal Statistical Office intends to present the first results for exports to non-EU countries as early as 20 to 25 days after the end of the month and thus more than two weeks earlier than before.