Xinhua Daily reported on 27 October 2026 that Jiangsu manufacturers are increasingly sailing from provincial ports instead of only feeding boxes to Shanghai. Through end-September the province ran 102 international container services, nine more than at end-2025, with monthly frequency of 314 sailings: 68 near-sea services covering Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Russia's Far East and China's Taiwan region, and 34 ocean services mainly to Europe and North America, the Middle East, Red Sea, Australia-New Zealand and South Asia.
On 8 October Taicang Port opened a direct Middle East container express that can save two to three weeks versus prior routings. Nanjing Port has added four ocean services this year with reach to the United States, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The share of Jiangsu foreign-trade boxes leaving from provincial ports rose from 13.8% in 2021 to 18% in 2025, with Taicang and Lianyungang growing steadily and Nanjing rising faster from a smaller base. Lianyungang now runs five ocean trunk lines and 100 container services worldwide.
Shippers cited in the report want schedule certainty for components feeding overseas plants, and specialized handling for heavy equipment, ro-ro and Class 9 cargo such as energy-storage units. Forwarder Eurasia Group said Middle East, South America and Africa demand from Jiangsu factories remains strong. XCMG logistics said Lianyungang has become its top exit port this year, ahead of Shanghai, for mixed container, ro-ro and breakbulk moves to more than 190 countries and regions.