China News reported from Guangzhou on 29 October 2026 that the Greater Bay Area's first newly built fully automated container terminal, Guangzhou Port Nansha Phase 4, formally opened foreign-trade operations that day.
The barge Hui Jin Qiao 168 berthed with the first laden foreign-trade containers. Guangzhou maritime authorities supported the call with on-site safety checks, dynamic waterway supervision and coordination with terminal workflows so the first unload ran safely and efficiently.
As a Greater Bay Area smart-port benchmark, Nansha Phase 4 has a designed annual capacity of 4.9 million TEU. Opening foreign-trade service further completes Nansha's container offering and unlocks more of the area's foreign-trade throughput. Once foreign-trade functions are fully enabled, the terminal is projected to add more than 1 million TEU of foreign-trade boxes a year, support Nansha import-export growth, help cut Pearl River Delta logistics costs and strengthen regional supply-chain resilience.
Maritime authorities tailored supervision for automated operations: a vessel clearance green channel via the International Trade Single Window with online pre-review, plus priority entry and exit, berthing and cargo handling to shorten waiting and clearance time; and a layered patrol model combining drones with electronic patrols to keep the berth approaches orderly around the clock.
On the import side the terminal aims to handle time-sensitive, higher-value cargo such as Southeast Asian fresh fruit and precision electronic components. On the export side it is meant to keep channels open for Chinese-made appliances, photovoltaic products and new-energy vehicle parts, supporting more balanced growth in import and export box volumes.