A China News piece republished by CRI Online on 5 November 2026 covered a media visit on 27 October to Qinzhou Automated Container Terminal during a New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor Guangxi tour. The terminal is described as the world's first container terminal with a U-shaped process layout and China's first fully automated container terminal for sea-rail intermodal transport, using AI, big data and cloud systems including a large AI model for mixed traffic.
Operations managers said Beibu Gulf Port cargo must shift between modes and terminals. Intelligent guided vehicles replace manned trucks for those moves, improving efficiency while cutting per-container sea-rail intermodal cost and inter-terminal haulage cost.
With the Pinglu Canal, the corridor is upgrading from rail-sea intermodal to river-rail-sea multimodal. The terminal is advancing integrated operation of five 5,000-tonne-class river-sea berths with berths 7 to 10, aiming to become Beibu Gulf Port's first fully automated container terminal that combines both river-sea and sea-rail intermodal transport.
On completion, rapid ship-to-ship transfers between 1,000-tonne-class inland vessels arriving via Pinglu and 10,000-tonne-class ocean-going vessels are planned. Shipping distance for southwestern China cargo heading to sea via the canal could fall by about 560 km versus traditional routes, with overall logistics costs expected to drop 18% to 30%. Bookers should confirm which berths and barge products are already bookable versus still under build-out.