In 2024, the Port of Nansha, part of the Guangzhou Port, was listed among the world’s top 10 container ports according to China’s Ministry of Transport. Its container throughput reached 20.49 million TEUs, with foreign trade volumes growing 13% year-on-year.
The Port of Nansha is becoming an important hub for global enterprises to expand into Southeast Asia and the “Belt and Road Initiative” markets, relying on its unique geographical advantages, complete infrastructure and innovative policy support. This article will review why and how the Port of Nansha can help your business reduce costs and improve service levels for South China to US shipping.
Why Nansha?
The west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, where the Port of Nansha is located, is one of China’s economic powerhouses. The industrial structure in South China, especially in the areas surrounding Guangzhou (Foshan, Shunde, Zhongshan, Jiangmen), mainly focuses on automated mechanical equipment and electromechanical products, automotive parts, medical devices, electronic appliances, plastics, building ceramics, aluminum materials, furniture, and home appliances. Here lies the world’s largest production base for home appliances, lighting products, and batteries. Also, 30% of the world’s ceramic tiles are produced here.
In recent years, the implementation of “re-shoring” and “China+1” strategies, and the growing demand for routes to Southeast Asia and Africa for these products, have increased the global distribution needs in the western cities of the Pearl River Delta. These changes have driven the rapid development of Nansha Port, making it an important hub connecting South China with global markets.
Superior Geographical Location
The Port of Nansha is strategically located in the heart of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with direct access to an extensive network of waterways, roads, and railways. It’s close to major manufacturing hubs in the Pearl River Delta, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Jiangmen, all within 100 kilometers. It also has direct access to the international free ports of Hong Kong and Macao. There are also dedicated Guangzhou shipping services available to support routing through Nansha and nearby ports.
This central location helps lower logistics costs and supports faster, more efficient cargo movement throughout the Greater Bay Area. It strengthens Nansha’s role as a key link between South China and global markets, especially for China to U.S. freight.
Transportation Hub with Convenient Access
The Port of Nansha is an important transportation hub connecting China’s inland areas with Southeast Asia, Africa, Asia, and North America routes. Integrated with railway, barge, and road transportation, it supports sea-rail intermodal transport and results in faster cargo delivery.
Rich Route Network
As of the end of 2024, the Port of Nansha Area of Guangzhou Port has opened 200 container liner routes, including 165 foreign trade routes covering Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and other regions, nearly 150 routes to countries along China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” and nearly 100 routes to RCEP countries. This gives shippers tremendous international shipping flexibility.
Below is a case study showing how shippers use the Port of Nansha in full-process logistics, including rail-to-port transit and large-volume exports.
For more details on transit times by lane, see our breakdown of China to U.S. shipping times.
Complete Logistics Support System
The Nansha port is more than a cargo transfer point. It is a fully integrated logistics hub with a dedicated sea-rail intermodal logistics park, the largest port-side warehousing and cold-chain distribution center in China, and the world’s first fully automated terminal for river, sea, and rail transport.
Policy Support
As a national free trade zone and a key development area, Nansha Port receives strong policy and financial backing from the Chinese government.
Nansha Port Solves a Series of Freight Dilemmas
Alleviate Congestion and Reduce Costs
Nansha Port is the only deep-water container terminal on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta, making it the most efficient choice for exporters in cities like Zhongshan, Foshan, and Jiangmen.
Using ports on the east bank, such as the Yantian Port or Shekou, requires longer distances and higher trailer fees. Learn more about Shenzhen shipping services that support this region.
For example, shipping from Yantian to the U.S. often involves inland transportation costs that are significantly higher. In many cases, international shipping from Yantian to the USA can also lead to increased transit time due to congestion and routing delays. For a deeper look at challenges with shipping from Shenzhen to the U.S., see our related analysis.
A container from Zhongshan to Yantian costs about CNY 2,600, while the fee to Nansha is only CNY 1,400, saving around CNY 1,200 per shipment.
Other ports in northern Guangdong, such as Huangpu and Guangzhou, can only serve shallow-water ports and require transshipment via feeder barges in Hong Kong or Yantian to enter the western Pearl River Delta. Therefore, if direct shipping from Guangzhou to cover the western Pearl River Delta is needed, Nansha Port is the only option with good transit time and low costs. U.S. customers buying goods from factories in the western Pearl River Delta should recognize Nansha Port’s advantages.
In addition to costs, congestion has also been a headache for shippers. As traditional major freight ports, Yantian Port and Shekou Port have long faced congestion issues, which make it difficult to guarantee cargo timeliness and significantly increase transportation costs. As a strategic gateway on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta, Nansha Port provides solutions to these problems with its superior geographical location, effectively reducing transportation time and costs.
For U.S. importers sourcing from South China, it’s helpful to work with logistics partners, like Dimerco Express Group, who understand the operational conditions at South China ports and can help re-optimize container transportation routes and inland trailer planning.
Customer Case
Previously, a thermal energy factory in Zhongshan, with the assistance of Dimerco, arranged for containers to be shipped via Nansha Port, saving approximately CNY 1,100 per 40HQ in local fees and shortening the pickup time by about 70 minutes.
In terms of transportation costs, the factory is 48 kilometers away from Nansha Port, with a driving time of about 50 minutes and a pickup fee of approximately CNY 1,500 per 40HQ; while it is 130 kilometers away from Yantian Port, with a driving time of 120 minutes and a pickup fee as high as approximately CNY 2,600 per 40HQ. Although both Nansha and Yantian are basic ports in South China, and the direct sea freight rates to Los Angeles are the same for shipping companies, Nansha Port has more advantages in inland transportation. Based on this insight, Dimerco developed a more efficient transportation plan for the enterprise, significantly reducing transportation costs in local fees.
Increasing Direct Routes to U.S. Ports
In 2024, Nansha Port added multiple new routes, further expanding its route network. Nowadays, more and more shipping companies have expanded direct shipping services from Nansha Port to the U.S., such as major U.S. ports like Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, and Houston.
Compared to relying on transshipment ports, direct shipping services significantly reduce transshipment risks and greatly improve transportation punctuality and reliability. For U.S. customers, the timeliness of cargo delivery has become increasingly important, and Nansha Port’s direct shipping services precisely meet this need.
The Advantages of Nansha Port’s Infrastructure
Large Vessel Capability Improves Shipping Reliability
Nansha Port is the only deep-water port on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, capable of accommodating the world’s largest container ships. This advantage reduces the risk of cargo missing a sailing or being rolled over, ensuring timely shipment. For shippers, stable sailing schedules mean more reliable supply chains, helping enterprises better plan production and sales.
Automated Terminals Improve Operational Efficiency
The automated terminal at Nansha Port is the world’s first fully automated terminal for river-sea-rail multimodal transport. The automated operation system has significantly increased container loading and unloading speeds, effectively reducing the staying time of containers at the port. Fast container handling capabilities mean goods can enter the next transportation link faster, reducing waiting costs at the port and improving the operational efficiency of the entire logistics chain.
Seamless Sea-Rail Intermodal Transport
The Nansha Port Railway is the only railway dedicated line directly connecting to a port in South China, with 35 sea-rail intermodal train routes opened to 10 provinces and cities including Chongqing, Sichuan, and Hunan. The sea-rail intermodal transport model enables efficient transportation of inland goods to Nansha Port, reducing reliance on road transport.
Modern Warehousing Provides Diverse Services
Nansha Port has an international logistics center providing one-stop logistics support services such as cross-border e-commerce, export LCL, and cold-chain logistics. Its modern warehouses offer customized services and support port-side container loading, container-as-warehouse, origin LCL, and buyer cargo consolidation. Whether for full-container loads or LCL cargo, suitable warehousing and processing solutions can be found at Nansha Port to meet the diverse logistics needs of shippers.
Dimerco can fully leverage these Nansha infrastructure advantages. To help shippers save time and costs, Dimerco can coordinate the full-process transportation of FCL and LCL cargo from the origin to the final destination, reasonably arrange cargo loading/unloading, warehousing, and transshipment at the port.
What Kind of Logistics Partner Do You Need for South China to US Shipping?
In the complex and changing logistics market, choosing a suitable logistics partner is crucial. For companies sourcing goods from South China, Dimerco has multiple advantages:
- Local Service Teams: 130 of Dimerco’s 160+ company-operated freight offices worldwide are located in China. Dimerco has expert service teams in Guangzhou and many inland cities. These local teams are familiar with the local logistics environment and policies and regulations and can expertly coordinate connection of all links in the cargo transportation chain. These local teams in China interact seamlessly with their Dimerco colleagues in the U.S. and Canada, where Dimerco has offices at all major port cities.
- Professional Route Planning Capability: Dimerco has a professional route planning team that can accurately formulate the best port pairing strategy based on shippers’ customer delivery needs and factory locations. Whether choosing Nansha Port or other ports for combined transportation, Dimerco can comprehensively consider factors such as transportation costs, timeliness, and cargo characteristics to provide shippers with optimized transportation solutions.
- Origin Services: From container loading to buyer integration, Dimerco provides comprehensive freight services. Through efficient operational processes and strict quality control, it ensures that goods can be loaded and shipped quickly and safely, reducing cargo dwell time and improving the overall efficiency of the supply chain. Combining the characteristics of Nansha Port Area and its superior geographical location, with the support of Nansha Customs, highway, and railway departments, Dimerco provides customers with bonded warehouse services within the port area, offers value-added services such as labeling and packaging in the warehouse for tripartite trade goods imported into the warehouse, and finally uses the satellite warehouse consolidation and distribution services provided by Nansha Port in China’s inland cities to improve the timeliness of last-mile delivery. The chart below compares transportation costs and delivery time between the original plan using Yantian and the optimized plan using Nansha port.
*Note: Annual logistics cost savings of approximately CNY 220,000 (based on the customer’s annual shipment volume of 200 FCL).
In 2023, Dimerco received an award for exporting over 2,000 TEU from Nansha Port. Its total export volume to the U.S. and Southeast Asia exceeded 3,000 TEU, marking a 20% year-over-year increase. By leveraging Nansha’s policy incentives and strategic location within China’s Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, Dimerco continues to deliver high-value freight services to customers.
It’s Time to Reconsider Your Freight Routes
The Port of Nansha is rapidly becoming a practical alternative for cargo from South China to the U.S. With the right logistics partner, you can improve reliability, reduce costs, and maintain an edge in the ongoing global trade competition.
Contact Dimerco to customize a Nansha Port freight solution for your shipments to the U.S.
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