The two automatic container berths in the Dagan Pingnan work zone of the Qinzhou Port Area in the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone start construction on Aug 31. [Photo by Nong Junyi for chinadaily.com.cn]

The No 9 and 10 automatic container berths in the Dagan Pingnan work zone of the Qinzhou Port Area in the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone has started construction on Aug 31, with the project scheduled to be finished by 2022.

The construction of two automatic container berths in Qinzhou Port, costing around 4.05 billion yuan ($591.45 million), has been a major project in the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in the western region and the Beibu Gulf International Gateway Port.

It will be able to meet the berthing requirements of 200,000-metic-ton container ships, which are currently the largest in the world, breaking the bottleneck in Beibu Gulf's infrastructure for opening new ocean routes. The designated annual container throughput of the two berths will reach 1.25 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

After the operation of the two berths, Qinzhou Port will be the fifth automated container terminal in China and the first automatic terminal applying sea-rail transportation in the country. 

Beibu Gulf Port Group, the owner of the project, has teamed up with world leading shipping companies like China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited and PSA Singapore to work out the construction plan for the berths that is most adaptable to actual demands in the construction of the Beibu Gulf International Gateway Port.