Zhoushan, an island city in East China's Zhejiang province, invests substantially in shipping infrastructure. [Photo/WeChat account: china-zjftz]

Zhoushan, an island city in East China's Zhejiang province, invested 42.9 billion yuan ($6.64 billion) in shipping infrastructure over the past five years, local media reported on Jan 19.

The Sheyimen shipping channel at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, completed at the end of 2018, is the first waterway in China to handle giant 300,000-metric ton iron ore ships.

It is the main channel from Qushan port, which is between Qushan Island and Shulanghu Island, in the northern part of the Zhoushan Archipelago. The terminal in Shulanghu Island is one of the biggest iron ore bases in China.

The Sheyimen shipping channel has boosted the capacity of the Yangtze River Delta region in transferring iron ore and has lowered the costs of transporting imported iron ore.

From 2016 to 2020, Zhoushan added about 310 kilometers of public waterways, bringing the entire length to 1,500 km, and increased 137 square kilometers of vessel anchorage areas, 50 percent more than in 2015.

Zhoushan established 72 more berths during the same period, including 27 berths for vessels of 10,000 tons or above.

The city now boasts comprehensive berth facilities for shipping and is capable of delivering all kinds of cargo, including metal ores, oil, coal, grain, containers and liquid natural gas (LNG).

Over the past five years, Zhoushan Port delivered 2.5 billion tons of cargo.

In the next five years, Zhoushan will invest 44 billion yuan in shipping infrastructure and accelerate the construction of more wharfs and LNG terminals to further improve its cargo throughput capacity.