Greener, Smarter, and More Digital: How Shanghai Is Transforming Global Shipping

by Zhu Qing，City News Service

October 19, 2025

On the banks of the Huangpu River, sleek high-rises tower over the North Bund, an area formerly dotted with old shipyards and cargo-loading cranes.

Once an industrial waterfront, it has transformed into a hub for China's maritime industry, now home to 17 of the world's top 50 container lines.

Today, it's also a meeting point for global maritime voices.

From October 19 to 21, the district is hosting the 2025 North Bund Forum, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, and innovators to explore how the world can ship smarter and greener.

More than 4,000 delegates from 50 countries and regions are taking part, including senior figures from the Baltic and International Maritime Council and other global maritime associations.

Over the past five years, the North Bund Forum has evolved into a key platform for dialogue, policy release, and rule-making in global shipping, according to Yu Fulin, director of the city's transportation commission.

Digital, smart and green

Nearly three decades after setting out to become a global shipping hub, Shanghai is moving beyond scale into a new era of digital, smart, and green shipping.

One of the key drivers of Shanghai's digital push is the new Digital Platform for Shipping and Trade, which connects ports, vessels and cargo data across the logistics chain.

Building on this foundation, the Shipping MaaS Platform now enables the online clearance of import delivery orders, a process that previously took days, but now takes just minutes.

The system also supports electronic bills of lading and allows users to track their cargo in real time throughout the journey.

Smart operations are now in full swing at Yangshan Phase IV, the world's largest automated container terminal.

Driverless trucks move beneath towering cranes, while operators control the entire process remotely from a tower 500 meters away. The system has improved efficiency by 30 percent and reduced staffing by 70 percent.

The technologies have since been adopted at Peru's Chancay Port, taking Shanghai's smart-port know-how to the global stage.

The next chapter is greener shipping. Ships can now refuel with liquefied natural gas and green methanol, cleaner alternatives that help cut emissions across global trade routes.

"We're working with partners worldwide to build Green Shipping Corridors," said Liu Changman, vice president of Shanghai International Port Group.

The port has also achieved nearly full shore-power coverage. By July, ships plugged into the grid for 38.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, cutting thousands of tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Sea, land and sky

Shanghai's logistics network is expanding from sea to sky, creating an integrated system that connects ports, railways, airports and cruise terminals.

At its maritime core, the Port of Shanghai handled 51.5 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in 2024, retaining its global No.1 ranking for the 15th consecutive year and becoming the first port worldwide to surpass the 50 million TEU milestone.

In aviation, Shanghai is ramping up its air travel services to make the city a top choice for international transfers, according to Chen Xueqiang, deputy Party secretary of the Shanghai Airport Authority.

Pudong International Airport now offers in-terminal amenities including showers, convenience stores, rest areas, and food delivery, easing the strain of long layovers without requiring travelers to exit the terminal.

On land, construction of the Oriental Hub International Business Cooperation Zone is set to redefine air-rail connectivity. Upon completion, the project will link national railways, Metro lines, and the Airport Link Line directly to Pudong International Airport, a first-of-its-kind air-rail integration in China. The hub will also facilitate international exchanges by allowing invited foreign visitors visa-free entry for stays of up to 30 days per trip.

Shanghai's maritime momentum extends to cruise travel. Following the maiden voyage of China's first domestically built large cruise ship, Adora Magic City, in early 2024, the sector has seen robust growth. The city recorded 225 international cruise voyages and 1.5 million passengers in the first nine months of 2025, a 45 percent year-on-year increase from the same period in 2024.

"China could soon have three or more large cruise ships in operation," Wei Xiang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, told China Central Television. "As more people seek high-quality travel experiences, cruise tourism is is poised for rapid growth in the coming years."

Rules, finance and the future

Having built the world's busiest port, Shanghai is now shifting its focus to the "soft power" underpinning global shipping: legal frameworks, finance, and insurance.

In the legal sphere, Shanghai is closing a long-standing gap by formally enabling ad hoc maritime arbitration – a flexible, case-by-case model widely used in global shipping – to operate legally across China for the first time.

The system was quickly put into practice. In August last year, China's first overseas-related ad hoc arbitration case wrapped up in Shanghai's North Bund area. The following month, for the first time, a foreign party designated Shanghai as the arbitration seat, replacing London.

Innovation is also taking shape in finance and insurance.

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which tracks spot container shipping rates from Shanghai to major global ports, has become one of the three key benchmarks for global maritime trade.

Building on that, the city launched China's first shipping index futures product, the SCFIS (Europe) Futures, which now boasts an average daily turnover of over US$1.5 billion, ranking among the most active freight derivatives worldwide.

Insurers are stepping up. In June 2024, the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) launched the world's first multimodal "one-order" cargo insurance, slashing the time to issue policies from days to minutes and cutting premiums by roughly 20 percent.

"Shanghai is fast becoming a global center for maritime technology and governance innovation," said Yang Zheng, general manager of China Classification Society Shanghai Branch.

In May, the city launched the Shanghai International Shipping Carbon Footprint Labelling Association, China's the first group developing a homegrown certification system for sustainable marine fuels in global shipping.

From automation to arbitration, Shanghai is helping reshape how global shipping operates – not only through infrastructure but also via digital systems, legal frameworks, and new fuels that are charting the industry's future course.