Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, which was created by merging ports in Ningbo and Zhoushan, is rapidly developing into one of the world's leading ports, the news website zjol.com.cn reported.

President Xi Jinping, then Party secretary of Zhejiang province, held high expectations for the development of a leading port in the province. He said in 2002 by integrating port resources and forming a complete port system, Zhejiang ports would be among the best in the world.

The dream is becoming a reality.

With throughput of over 900 million metric tons in 2016, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port has become the busiest in the world in terms of cargo tonnage. Container throughput exceeded 21 million last year.

In the first half of 2017, cargo loaded and unloaded at the port surpassed 515 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.3 percent, while container throughput was 12.38 million, up by 14.6 percent from the first half of 2016.

As world trade develops, the ports' competitiveness not only lies in traditional advantages such as proximity to international routes and deep-water coastlines, but also in the integration of port resources, according to Mao Jianhong, chairman of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group Co.

"The merger of ports leads to centralized management, which improves services and internationalization," Mao said.

Zhejiang Provincial Seaport Investment & Operation Group Co was established in August 2015 to better manage port resources in Zhejiang. Later that year, Ningbo Port Co and Zhoushan Port Co were merged as Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group Co in a bid to put their ports under one management system.