Some time ago, some media reported that a large number of empty containers were piled up in the port, which in turn caused concerns about China's foreign trade situation. So what is the real situation? The reporter recently came to the largest container loading and unloading terminal in Ningbo Zhoushan Port to find out.

At Ningbo Beilun No. 3 Container Terminal, the 74.<>-kilometer-long quay shoreline is almost full of container cargo ships, and the harbor bridge crane is busy loading and unloading goods.

Wu Guangji, Deputy Manager of Operation Department of Ningbo Beilun Third Container Terminal Co., Ltd.: At present, our port has a total of 11 berths, which are almost full every day during this period, and our number of operating routes has also remained at the same as our maximum value of 40 to 45 routes. Our workers are still operating at full load, and our daily operations are handled by containers, which are probably maintained at more than 3,<> TEUs.

Port production data shows that since March, the average daily container throughput of Ningbo Beilun Third Container Terminal has reached 3,3 TEUs, an increase of 16.14% compared with the same period last year. This is also confirmed by the operation status of the dock crane.

CCTV reporter Zhang Xin: There are 49 bridge cranes along the wharf, except for the cantilever of four bridge cranes standing in the distance, the other 45 bridge cranes are operating normally.

The reporter walked around the port and found that there were indeed many empty containers piled up. The terminal staff told reporters that containers with more than four layers stacked together are basically empty containers. From the person in charge of the port, the reporter learned that at present, the number of empty containers stored in the port is about 14,<> TEUs.

Wu Guangji, deputy manager of the operation department of Ningbo Beilun Third Container Terminal Co., Ltd.: According to our normal production level, it is a normal acceptable range value.

The "increase and decrease" of supply and demand has led to an increase in empty containers at this stage

The person in charge of the port said that at present, the number of empty containers stored in the port is an acceptable range value. So, what is the reason for these empty boxes?

Wu Guangji, deputy manager of the operation department of Ningbo Beilun Third Container Terminal Co., Ltd.: On the one hand, the reason is the return of empty containers in foreign trade, and the second is that the newly added containers are returned throughout the production cycle, including after the use cycle, resulting in the return of a large number of containers.

The reporter learned from public data that in 2021, under the booming market of the container shipping market, more than 700 million TEUs of containers were produced worldwide, nearly 3 times that of conventional years. Nowadays, the period of port congestion and "one box is difficult to find" has passed, and the "increase and decrease" of container supply and demand has caused more empty containers at this stage.

In addition, international shipping companies also take the initiative to dispatch empty containers to Chinese ports to respond to the growth of export scale at any time.

Wu Guangji, deputy manager of the operation department of Ningbo Beilun Third Container Terminal Co., Ltd.: If you are willing to pile up empty containers to our domestic ports, the main thing is to value our domestic economic outbreak, and more is our potential to develop here, so many large international shipping companies abroad prefer these ports in our country.

The change in the empty container index does not mean that the scale of China's foreign trade has declined

In addition, experts from the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce also said that although the number of empty containers in ports, container freight rates, etc. are some indicators for observing the development trend of foreign trade, they are not all indicators. Changes in these indicators should be viewed dialectically.

Gu Xueming, President of the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce: The accumulation of empty containers in the port is mainly due to the oversupply of containers caused by "lack of containers" and "lack of containers" since 2021. It is the result of foreign trade enterprises optimistic about the prospects of China's foreign trade recovery and active allocation. Container freight rates, which have repeatedly reached new highs after the epidemic, have now begun to decline with the normalization of the maritime market, which is also an inevitable result of freight rates returning to normal. So these indicators (changes) do not mean that the scale of China's foreign trade will decline.

(CCTV reporter Zhang Xin, Li Tang, Zhejiang Tai, Yiwu Tai, Ningbo Tai)