1001 Smart Cities
🇨🇳 Guangzhou

Nansha Port Phase IV Automated Container Terminal

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 15 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

15 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

✎ Corrected 27 Sep 2026 3 sources added. What changed →

Guangzhou's Nansha terminal was billed as the Greater Bay Area's first fully automated terminal — an AI "Super Brain" routes driverless IGVs between robotic cranes, and throughput doubled year-on-year by 2024.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byGuangzhou Port Group
Scale🏘️ District

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 7 more in Guangzhou · 🚗 Autonomous vehicles guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Guangzhou Port Group's Nansha Phase IV terminal, opened 28 July 2022, was presented at its opening as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's first fully automated container terminal: automated quay cranes hand containers to intelligent guided vehicles (IGVs) routed by an AI scheduling system the operator calls the terminal's "Super Brain," with automated yard cranes replacing on-site crews. State media also call it China's first fully automated terminal for river-sea-rail multimodal transport; it has four 100,000-tonne berths and 4.9 million TEU/year design capacity. Container throughput through the automated terminal reached 1.81 million TEUs between January and mid-August 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year, and the operator reports roughly 70% lower manpower needs than a conventional terminal; Phase V won Ministry of Transport approval for its deep-water shoreline in March 2025 and began full construction on 15 May 2026, though neither announcement says whether it will be automated. In May 2026 Phase IV was cleared to receive foreign-flagged vessels.

Live 📅 since 2022

📊 Impact

1.81 million TEUs handled by the automated terminal from January to mid-August 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year; operator-reported ~70% lower manpower requirement than a conventional terminal (Guangzhou Port Group / state media, 2022–2024).

🎓 Lesson

A doubling in a terminal's second full year measures the ramp toward design capacity, not a gain from automation: the comparison is against the same months of 2023, when four new berths were still filling. The design figure the operator gives — 4.9 million TEUs a year — is the one the throughput is climbing toward. The number that would settle the automation question is moves per crane hour against a comparable conventional terminal, and nobody publishes it. What is published is a manpower saving of about 70%, quoted by the terminal's own general manager, with no independent measurement anywhere in the sourcing. The commitment is real regardless: Phase V won its shoreline approval in March 2025 and went into full construction in May 2026, a bet made on operating experience the operator has and the public does not — though neither announcement says whether Phase V repeats the automated design.

🚲 MobilityAutonomous vehiclesSensors & IoTArtificial intelligence

Sources

↗ GDToday/newsgd.com (press)Published 1 August 2022Published 1 August 2022. Source for the opening date, the IGV and crane choreography, and two operator statements from He Yeke, general manager of Nansha Phase IV: four 100,000-tonne berths with a total annual handling capacity of 4.9 million TEUs, and 'The automated terminal saves about 70 percent of manpower and guarantees a higher level of safety for production.'
↗ China Daily / Invest in China (press)Published 26 December 2024Nansha Port area passes 20 million TEUs in 2024; the fully automated Phase IV terminal passed completion acceptance in November 2024, and construction of Phase V was under way. It does not give a throughput figure for the automated terminal itself.
↗ China Daily Nansha (press, 21 Aug 2024)From the start of 2024 to mid-August, the Phase IV terminal handled 1.81 million TEUs, up 102.7% year on year; describes the 'Super Brain' scheduling system and calls the terminal China's first fully automated terminal for river-sea-rail multimodal transport. Published before Phase V was approved.
↗ Guangzhou Daily — Nansha Phase V shoreline approved (12 March 2025)Guangzhou Daily front page: the Ministry of Transport has approved use of deep-water port shoreline for Nansha Phase V — four 200,000-tonne container berths, 15 barge berths, design capacity above 6 million TEU a year. Says nothing about automation.
↗ eGuangzhou — Construction begins on Phase V of Nansha Port (18 May 2026)Guangzhou's official English portal: full-scale construction of Nansha Phase V began on 15 May 2026, with an estimated investment of 14.447 billion yuan and a design capacity of 6.7 million TEU a year. The announcement does not describe the terminal's level of automation.
Show 1 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ China Daily Nansha (press, 25 May 2026)The Phase IV terminal was among three Nansha terminals approved to receive foreign-flagged vessels on 22 May 2026; the article calls it the world's first fully automated river-sea intermodal container terminal.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2022. 6 of 6 sources carry a publication date, from 1 August 2022 to 25 May 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. GDToday · pressGDToday/newsgd.com (press)
  2. China Daily · pressChina Daily Nansha (press, 21 Aug 2024)
  3. China Daily · pressChina Daily / Invest in China (press)
  4. Guangzhou Daily (广州日报) · pressGuangzhou Daily — Nansha Phase V shoreline approved (12 March 2025)
  5. Guangzhou Municipal People's Government · city governmenteGuangzhou — Construction begins on Phase V of Nansha Port (18 May 2026)
  6. China Daily · pressChina Daily Nansha (press, 25 May 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. 3 sources added
  3. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 15 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 15 addressable claims, 6 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 15

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-241e8af29ce47d83 quantitative
Guangzhou Port Group's Nansha Phase IV terminal, opened 28 July 2022, was presented at its opening as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's first fully automated container terminal
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
GDToday's opening report states the start of operations on 28 July and gives the terminal the Greater Bay Area 'first'.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 2 clm-ce07d12cff4b6569 descriptive
automated quay cranes hand containers to intelligent guided vehicles (IGVs) routed by an AI scheduling system the operator calls the terminal's "Super Brain," with automated yard cranes replacing on-site crews
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
GDToday describes cranes placing containers on IGVs whose routes are planned by algorithms under a remote automatic operating system; the August 2024 China Daily Nansha piece names the scheduling system 'Super Brain'.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
  2. China Daily Nansha (press, 21 Aug 2024)
Claim 3 clm-f4a10994167d2856 descriptive
State media also call it China's first fully automated terminal for river-sea-rail multimodal transport
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China Daily's Nansha site states the superlative in these words.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily Nansha (press, 21 Aug 2024)
Claim 4 clm-a8bc7cbc56c87b5a quantitative
it has four 100,000-tonne berths and 4.9 million TEU/year design capacity
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Given by He Yeke, general manager of Phase IV, in the opening coverage.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 5 clm-b2519ca8119d1241 quantitative
Container throughput through the automated terminal reached 1.81 million TEUs between January and mid-August 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The 21 August 2024 report gives the terminal's throughput since the start of the year and the year-on-year rise.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily Nansha (press, 21 Aug 2024)
Claim 6 clm-1f221da78fec2327 quantitative
the operator reports roughly 70% lower manpower needs than a conventional terminal
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The terminal's general manager, He Yeke, gives the figure in the opening coverage.
Caveat
The figure is the operator's own; no independent comparison with a conventional terminal has been published.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 7 clm-6c20c64d277e85c0 quantitative
Phase V won Ministry of Transport approval for its deep-water shoreline in March 2025
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Guangzhou Daily reports, citing the city port authority, that the Ministry of Transport approved Phase V's use of deep-water shoreline.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Guangzhou Daily — Nansha Phase V shoreline approved (12 March 2025)
Claim 8 clm-3d2749e0dbee9743 quantitative
began full construction on 15 May 2026
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The city's English portal dates the start of full-scale construction.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. eGuangzhou — Construction begins on Phase V of Nansha Port (18 May 2026)
Claim 9 clm-c17027dc3605e04a descriptive
though neither announcement says whether it will be automated
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Both announcements describe berths, capacity and investment and are silent on the level of automation.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Guangzhou Daily — Nansha Phase V shoreline approved (12 March 2025)
  2. eGuangzhou — Construction begins on Phase V of Nansha Port (18 May 2026)
Claim 10 clm-691c1f34e9512c7c quantitative
In May 2026 Phase IV was cleared to receive foreign-flagged vessels.
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
China Daily reports the Phase IV terminal among three Nansha terminals approved for international vessels on 22 May 2026.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily Nansha (press, 25 May 2026)
Claim 11 clm-912bfbfab2cd91ea quantitative
1.81 million TEUs handled by the automated terminal from January to mid-August 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Same August 2024 figures as the snippet.
Caveat
Growth from a terminal that opened in mid-2022 measures the ramp toward design capacity.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily Nansha (press, 21 Aug 2024)
Claim 12 clm-f58d1110fec15269 quantitative
operator-reported ~70% lower manpower requirement than a conventional terminal
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The terminal general manager's own statement in the opening coverage.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 13 clm-ba59faa20c0c11da quantitative
The design figure the operator gives — 4.9 million TEUs a year
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The general manager's capacity figure at opening.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 14 clm-1cfcdd2fe54ed547 quantitative
What is published is a manpower saving of about 70%, quoted by the terminal's own general manager
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The only published figure for the saving is He Yeke's quote.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 15 clm-d2729b6cd4bb7f26 quantitative
Phase V won its shoreline approval in March 2025 and went into full construction in May 2026
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Approval date from Guangzhou Daily, construction start from the city portal.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Guangzhou Daily — Nansha Phase V shoreline approved (12 March 2025)
  2. eGuangzhou — Construction begins on Phase V of Nansha Port (18 May 2026)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-09-27-popular-uplift-2 effective 2026-09-27 · created 2026-09-27

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:1ea6e763455eccd648820ba320710368223f348a0c9553c3233ed52c3bd5f278
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
15
of 15 claims mapped
6
source dossiers
6
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Guangzhou Port Group
Actor types
utility
Funding model
public
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

6 source dossiers

GDToday/newsgd.com (press) newsgd.com · 7 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-a3b656520eb61e2d
Publisher
Name not classified · newsgd.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2022-08-01
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Published 1 August 2022. Source for the opening date, the IGV and crane choreography, and two operator statements from He Yeke, general manager of Nansha Phase IV: four 100,000-tonne berths with a total annual handling capacity of 4.9 million TEUs, and 'The automated terminal saves about 70 percent of manpower and guarantees a higher level of safety for production.'

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
China Daily / Invest in China (press) investinchina.chinadaily.com.cn · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-90b1382770766142
Publisher
Name not classified · investinchina.chinadaily.com.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-12-26
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Nansha Port area passes 20 million TEUs in 2024; the fully automated Phase IV terminal passed completion acceptance in November 2024, and construction of Phase V was under way. It does not give a throughput figure for the automated terminal itself.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
China Daily Nansha (press, 21 Aug 2024) nansha.guangdong.chinadaily.com.cn · 4 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-81370bec638a4b5c
Publisher
Name not classified · nansha.guangdong.chinadaily.com.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-08-21
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

From the start of 2024 to mid-August, the Phase IV terminal handled 1.81 million TEUs, up 102.7% year on year; describes the 'Super Brain' scheduling system and calls the terminal China's first fully automated terminal for river-sea-rail multimodal transport. Published before Phase V was approved.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Guangzhou Daily — Nansha Phase V shoreline approved (12 March 2025) gzdaily.dayoo.com · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-516e0d6f860365bd
Publisher
Name not classified · gzdaily.dayoo.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-03-12
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Guangzhou Daily front page: the Ministry of Transport has approved use of deep-water port shoreline for Nansha Phase V — four 200,000-tonne container berths, 15 barge berths, design capacity above 6 million TEU a year. Says nothing about automation.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
eGuangzhou — Construction begins on Phase V of Nansha Port (18 May 2026) eguangzhou.gov.cn · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-4ee9113cd898ae37
Publisher
Name not classified · eguangzhou.gov.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-05-18
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Guangzhou's official English portal: full-scale construction of Nansha Phase V began on 15 May 2026, with an estimated investment of 14.447 billion yuan and a design capacity of 6.7 million TEU a year. The announcement does not describe the terminal's level of automation.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
China Daily Nansha (press, 25 May 2026) nansha.guangdong.chinadaily.com.cn · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-a55495088c6237b7
Publisher
Name not classified · nansha.guangdong.chinadaily.com.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-05-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-09-27
Dossier created
2026-09-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The Phase IV terminal was among three Nansha terminals approved to receive foreign-flagged vessels on 22 May 2026; the article calls it the world's first fully automated river-sea intermodal container terminal.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇰🇷 Busan New Port West Container Terminal Phase 2-5 · Busan Same genre: automated quay cranes and guided vehicles, with a similar crew-reduction claim from the operator. 🇨🇳 Yangshan Port Phase IV automated container terminal · Shanghai Sister facility: China's other flagship fully automated terminal, both using AGVs and remote-controlled yard cranes. 🇨🇳 Tianjin Zero-Carbon Smart Terminal · Tianjin Domestic peer automated terminal, but Tianjin's autonomy claim is narrower — only its transport robots are Level 4.

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📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Nansha Port Phase IV Automated Container Terminal” — Guangzhou, China. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/guangzhou-nansha-port-terminal/ (last verified 2026-09-27). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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