Launching giant container ship and high-frequency direct routes, global shipping giants are taking concrete actions to fully make use of the advanced Shanghai Port's hub function.
The world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual-fuel container ship, the CMA CGM Notre Dame, departed from Shanghai Yangshan Port on its maiden voyage on Sunday, serving the China-Europe route.
The giant vessel measures 400 meters in length and has a full load capacity up to 24,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs).
This time, it was loaded with 9,350 TEUs at Yangshan Port, carrying Chinese-made electric vehicles and energy storage cabinets to Europe.
"The route served by the CMA CGM Notre Dame is an important passage connecting China and Europe. Shanghai Port plays a key hub role on this route," said Gu Haoyu, Chief Operating Officer of CMA CGM China.
The U.S. West Coast service of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited also made its maiden voyage from Yangshan Port on last Thursday.
China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited has launched 14 new direct routes from the Far East to the U.S. West Coast, offering the fastest delivery service from Shanghai to Seattle in 18 days.
The maiden voyage vessel, the Xin Shantou, loaded with 1,336 TEUs, is heading to North America.
As global shipping giants including COSCO Shipping and CMA CGM continue to call at Shanghai with ultra-large vessels, the Yangshan Port has become one of the world's most route-intensive and efficient core hubs.
"From January to April, Shanghai Port handled a total of 18.959 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent. CMA CGM handled 1.685 million TEUs at Shanghai Port, up 12.9 percent year on year. This fully demonstrates that CMA CGM highly recognizes Shanghai Port's hub function," said Yang Yanbin, Deputy General Manager of the Production and Business Department of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd.
Global shipping giants launch giant vessel, fast routes from Shanghai’s port
China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the statement made by Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi 10 years after the so-called "2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea", a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in Beijing on Sunday.
The statement blatantly endorses the illegal "award", attacks China's lawful claims and mischaracterizes Japan as a "legitimate stakeholder who uses the South China Sea", said the spokesperson.
Japan is not a party in the South China Sea and is in no position to pass judgment on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. During World War II, Japan committed innumerable crimes that caused untold suffering on China and its people, including the illegal occupation of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, said the spokesperson.
Now decades later, Japan, in the name of a "stakeholder", is again attempting to meddle in the South China Sea. This reminds people of Japan's history of aggression and expansion, and heightens their vigilance against Japan's neo-militarism agenda, said the spokesperson.
China's sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and relevant rights and interests in the South China Sea were established in the long course of history, and are solidly grounded in the law. China's activities in the South China Sea are fully legitimate, lawful and beyond reproach. China's rights in the South China Sea can by no means be denied by the makeshift "arbitral tribunal", said the spokesperson.
In rendering the "award", the "arbitral tribunal" exceeded its authority and abused its jurisdiction. The "award" is naturally illegal, null and void, and has no binding force. It has gravely undermined the sanctity and authority of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and dealt a serious blow to the international rule of law, said the spokesperson.
China neither accepts nor recognizes the "award", and opposes and will never accept any claim or action arising from it, the spokesperson added.
By turning a blind eye to the glaring flaws in the "award" while openly endorsing it, Japan has laid bare its double standards and hypocrisy, said the spokesperson.
What Japan really cares about is not the international rule of law, but meddling in and destabilizing the South China Sea. For some time, Japan has been stepping up collaboration with the Philippines and expanding its export of weapons and equipment to the country. Japan has also deployed military forces overseas on many occasions and launched offensive missiles. These actions go far beyond the scope of self-defense, break free from Japan's Constitution and norms in the international law, and challenge the post-war international order, said the spokesperson.
China urges Japan to stop smearing China, stop sowing disinformation in the South China Sea, and stop undermining peace and stability in the region, said the spokesperson, adding that China will continue firmly defending its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.
Any attempts to challenge China's lawful rights and interests and undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea are doomed to fail, the spokesperson said.
China strongly deplores Japanese FM's statement on South China Sea: spokesperson
