A container vessel left Rizhao Port in east China's Shandong Province on Wednesday evening, marking the launch of the first direct container route between Rizhao and Incheon, South Korea.
The ship can carry 1,102 standard containers and takes less than 24 hours to reach Incheon, from where cargo can be delivered to the Seoul metropolitan area the next day.
The route operates twice weekly. With existing services to Pyeongtaek and Busan, Rizhao now has seven weekly container sailings to South Korea. Rizhao Port is the only coastal port in China with two 1,000-km railways directly linking to the port area. Incheon Port is South Korea's second-largest international trade port and is close to the Seoul metropolitan area.
From January to October 2026, Rizhao Port's container throughput rose 7.5 percent year on year. From January to July this year, its "one-container" sea-rail intermodal volume surged 206.2 percent year on year, the fastest growth among China's coastal ports.
Rizhao opens 1st direct container route to Incheon
A successful Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen will send a strong signal of trust and have a positive effect on global governance, former UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova said ahead of the event.
China will host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen in south China from Nov 18 to 19, which will mark the country's third hosting of the event following Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014.
Bokova brought the perspective of a veteran of multilateral institutions to what has become one of the most closely watched diplomatic gatherings of the year.
"I think that there are high expectations from this meeting because we know that today there are many challenges in the world. These geopolitical shifts sometimes need to build more trust. And this is one of the most dynamic regions in the world in terms of economic growth, in terms of trade opportunities and I would say widely impacting all the other developments and all the other risks even and opportunities that we have in the world. I think a successful APEC meeting here, will have a very positive effect on all the debate about global governance and I think that global governance today is the big topic," she said.
Commenting on this year's APEC agenda, Bokova emphasized the transformative role of innovation.
"It's the, I would say, the elephant in the room, it's the most important, one of the most important topics nowadays, because we know that artificial intelligence is all around us. It shapes our societies, our education systems, our jobs. Innovation of course is very much needed. Artificial intelligence for good, and I hope that this will be the topic also for this debate. Now the question is not whether we need artificial intelligence or not, we need it and we think that it may solve many of the humanity's problems, but the question here is whether we know how to manage using this in an ethical, inclusive and sustainable manner. This is the big topic in my mind," she said.
Successful APEC meeting to positively impact global governance: former UNESCO chief
