1001 Smart Cities
🇨🇳 Shanghai

Yangshan 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 2 sources added. · 3 revisions in all What changed →

Seven berths along a 2,350 m quay, worked by unmanned vehicles and cranes steered from an onshore office. Around 400 staff run the whole terminal, on figures the port operator publishes itself.

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 byShanghai Port / SIPG
Scale🗺️ Regional
Cost≈¥12.848 billion (about US$2.1bn at the ECB reference rate of ¥6.13 to the dollar on 20 November 2014) — the investment approved by China's National Development and Reform Commission in November 2014, 30% equity and the rest bank credit. That is an approval, not a final account: no statement of what the terminal actually cost has been published.

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 11 more in Shanghai · 🚗 Autonomous vehicles guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Yangshan Deep-Water Port's Phase IV, opened December 2017, runs unmanned automated guided vehicles and remotely operated cranes over a 2,350 m quay with seven berths — described by Chinese state media as the world's largest single-phase automated container terminal. A fibre (F5G) network lets operators control cranes from an onshore office; around 400 staff run it.

Live 📅 since 2017

📊 Impact

The terminal handled more than 8 million TEU in 2025, state media report, and operator SIPG says its annual capacity has been raised from the 6.3 million TEU of the original design to 8 million. On 22 December 2024 it loaded the container that took Shanghai Port as a whole past 50 million TEU in a year, which SIPG calls a world record. Throughput and staffing figures are reported by the port operator and state media, not independently audited.

🎓 Lesson

A terminal built new in one phase can be designed around remote work from the start: Yangshan Phase IV laid optical fibre rather than retrofitting wireless, and moved crane operators into control rooms, some over 100 km from the quay. Every figure on what that achieved comes from the operator, its supplier or state media, so the record shows scale and speed, not an independent account of cost or jobs.

🚲 MobilityAutonomous vehiclesConnectivity & 5GSensors & IoT

Sources

↗ Xinhua (state press)Published 10 December 2017Reports the 10 December 2017 opening; describes it as the world's largest single-phase automated terminal (state media).
↗ Huawei (technology supplier)Supplier account of the 5G/F5G network, remote crane control and ~400-staff operation; marketing source.
↗ Shanghai Port / SIPG (operator)Published 25 December 2024Port operator announcement of Shanghai's 50-million-TEU 2024 throughput record (self-reported).
↗ Yicai (financial press) — NDRC approval, 20 November 2014
↗ Shanghai municipal portal (government) — Yangshan Phase IV approved, 20 November 2014
Show 3 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ China Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017
↗ Qiushi (republishing People's Daily) — How Shanghai powers the world's fastest port operations (14 Aug 2026)People's Daily report republished by Qiushi: the terminal handled more than 8 million TEU in 2025; crane operators work from control rooms more than 30 km and over 100 km away.
↗ Pudong New Area government — Shanghai Port achieves record container throughput (31 Oct 2025)District government page citing SIPG: Yangshan Phase IV's annual capacity raised from 6.3 million to 8 million TEU, with 2025 throughput reaching 8 million.

📅 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 2017. 7 of 8 sources carry a publication date, from 20 November 2014 to 14 August 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Yicai (第一财经) · pressYicai (financial press) — NDRC approval, 20 November 2014
  2. 上海市商务委员会（市口岸办）(Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce / Port Office) · city governmentShanghai municipal portal (government) — Yangshan Phase IV approved, 20 November 2014
  3. Xinhua News Agency · pressXinhua (state press)
  4. China Belt and Road Portal (中国一带一路网) · national governmentChina Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017
  5. Shanghai International Port (Group) (SIPG) · operatorShanghai Port / SIPG (operator)
  6. Pudong New Area People's Government · city governmentPudong New Area government — Shanghai Port achieves record container throughput (31 Oct 2025)
  7. Qiushi Journal · pressQiushi (republishing People's Daily) — How Shanghai powers the world's fastest port operations (14 Aug 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Publication date recorded for 1 source
  3. Publication date recorded for 6 sources
  4. 2 sources added
  5. 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, 8 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-2b42e16c9659e440 quantitative
opened December 2017
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
People's Daily, republished on the Belt and Road Portal, reports that the terminal formally opened on 10 December (2017); Xinhua reports trial operations starting the same day.
Caveat
Xinhua describes the 10 December 2017 start as trial operations.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017
  2. Xinhua (state press)
Claim 2 clm-1f2010ee8d79a631 descriptive
runs unmanned automated guided vehicles and remotely operated cranes
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
People's Daily reports the first 10 quay cranes, 40 rail-mounted gantry cranes and 50 automated guided vehicles in service, quay cranes 'all automated and remotely operated'; Xinhua names the AGVs.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017
  2. Xinhua (state press)
Claim 3 clm-f55e67a075055e90 quantitative
over a 2,350 m quay
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Xinhua: 'has a 2,350-meter shoreline'; People's Daily: container quay length 2,350 m.
Caveat
The 2014 approval gives a total berth length of 2,800 m, which includes a work-vessel berth alongside the container quay.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017
  2. Xinhua (state press)
Claim 4 clm-d6402eb09d399e41 descriptive
seven berths
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The opening report states the terminal was built with seven container berths; the 2014 approval names five of 50,000 tonnes and two of 70,000.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017
  2. Shanghai municipal portal (government) — Yangshan Phase IV approved, 20 November 2014
Claim 5 clm-29aad6753f88a7f2 descriptive
described by Chinese state media as the world's largest single-phase automated container terminal
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
People's Daily calls it 全球最大单体自动化智能码头 — the world's largest single automated smart terminal; Xinhua calls it 'the world's biggest automated container terminal'.
Caveat
A state-media description, not an independent ranking.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017
  2. Xinhua (state press)
Claim 6 clm-c22141bb7f89b65e quantitative
A fibre (F5G) network lets operators control cranes from an onshore office
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Huawei, which built the network, says Phase IV 'implements F5G, the fifth generation of optical network technologies' and that crane operators work from an office watching high-definition video.
Caveat
Supplier account.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Huawei (technology supplier)
Claim 7 clm-2ffcb4b77247e09d quantitative
around 400 staff run it
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Huawei: in May 2023 the terminal handled 26,066 TEU in 24 hours 'because the facility only employs 400 staff'; without digital transformation, it says, it would need 1,000.
Caveat
Figure from the network supplier's marketing page, as of 2023.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Huawei (technology supplier)
Claim 8 clm-a1032e1f760bdd2d quantitative
The terminal handled more than 8 million TEU in 2025, state media report
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
People's Daily, republished by Qiushi: 'In 2025, the phase IV automated terminal of Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port handled more than 8 million TEUs'.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Qiushi (republishing People's Daily) — How Shanghai powers the world's fastest port operations (14 Aug 2026)
Claim 9 clm-73c5f2994579d11a quantitative
operator SIPG says its annual capacity has been raised from the 6.3 million TEU of the original design to 8 million
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Pudong government page: 'According to the Shanghai International Port Group, Yangshan Phase IV's annual throughput capacity has increased from 6.3 million to 8 million TEUs.' Xinhua's 2017 report gives the original 4 million initial and 6.3 million long-term design.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Pudong New Area government — Shanghai Port achieves record container throughput (31 Oct 2025)
  2. Xinhua (state press)
Claim 10 clm-0ebff7a324d3b405 quantitative
On 22 December 2024 it loaded the container that took Shanghai Port as a whole past 50 million TEU in a year
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
SIPG: on the morning of 22 December 2024, at Yangshan Phase IV, the 50 millionth TEU of Shanghai Port's 2024 throughput was loaded onto a deep-sea liner.
Caveat
The 50 million TEU is the throughput of the whole port of Shanghai, not of this terminal.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Shanghai Port / SIPG (operator)
Claim 11 clm-4139e8d8856cf75e descriptive
which SIPG calls a world record
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
SIPG: the port's annual throughput 'surpassed 50 million TEUs for the first time, setting a new global record'.
Caveat
The operator's own characterisation.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Shanghai Port / SIPG (operator)
Claim 12 clm-5d1c9cd0c88afe09 descriptive
Throughput and staffing figures are reported by the port operator and state media, not independently audited.
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The throughput, capacity and staffing figures above come from SIPG, state media or the network supplier; none of the listed sources reports an audit.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Shanghai Port / SIPG (operator)
  2. Qiushi (republishing People's Daily) — How Shanghai powers the world's fastest port operations (14 Aug 2026)
  3. Pudong New Area government — Shanghai Port achieves record container throughput (31 Oct 2025)
  4. Huawei (technology supplier)
Claim 13 clm-3453663d58f01e83 descriptive
Yangshan Phase IV laid optical fibre rather than retrofitting wireless
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Huawei explains that 5G suits terminals already in operation, but 'when building a new terminal ... it's possible to digitally transform the site by laying out optical fiber', as Phase IV did.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Huawei (technology supplier)
Claim 14 clm-d1c8d33678400661 quantitative
moved crane operators into control rooms, some over 100 km from the quay
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
People's Daily (via Qiushi): operators moved from crane cabins to control centres more than 30 km away and to remote sites in downtown Shanghai over 100 km from the terminal.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Qiushi (republishing People's Daily) — How Shanghai powers the world's fastest port operations (14 Aug 2026)
  2. Huawei (technology supplier)
Claim 15 clm-496abada5f74b42d descriptive
Every figure on what that achieved comes from the operator, its supplier or state media
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
All performance figures in the listed sources are published by SIPG, Huawei or state media outlets.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Shanghai Port / SIPG (operator)
  2. Qiushi (republishing People's Daily) — How Shanghai powers the world's fastest port operations (14 Aug 2026)
  3. Pudong New Area government — Shanghai Port achieves record container throughput (31 Oct 2025)
  4. Huawei (technology supplier)
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 effective 2026-09-27 · created 2026-09-27

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

sha256:cc55997287f2b8582e87adfdc7c98a4125a8d717cfa17dbe663707daf7775bed
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
15
of 15 claims mapped
8
source dossiers
7
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Shanghai Port / SIPG
Actor types
utility
Funding model
public
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
≈¥12.848 billion (about US$2.1bn at the ECB reference rate of ¥6.13 to the dollar on 20 November 2014) — the investment approved by China's National Development and Reform Commission in November 2014, 30% equity and the rest bank credit. That is an approval, not a final account: no statement of what the terminal actually cost has been published.
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

8 source dossiers

Xinhua (state press) xinhuanet.com · 5 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-4cfd355798026604
Publisher
Name not classified · xinhuanet.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2017-12-10
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

Reports the 10 December 2017 opening; describes it as the world's largest single-phase automated terminal (state media).

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Huawei (technology supplier) huawei.com · 6 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-e576a88caf090934
Publisher
Name not classified · huawei.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
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

Supplier account of the 5G/F5G network, remote crane control and ~400-staff operation; marketing source.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Shanghai Port / SIPG (operator) en.portshanghai.com.cn · 4 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-a94e5c3cf89b5161
Publisher
Name not classified · en.portshanghai.com.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-12-25
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

Port operator announcement of Shanghai's 50-million-TEU 2024 throughput record (self-reported).

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Yicai (financial press) — NDRC approval, 20 November 2014 yicai.com · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-c5bc33a62d61eba2
Publisher
Name not classified · yicai.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2014-11-20
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
No locator recordedDescriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Shanghai municipal portal (government) — Yangshan Phase IV approved, 20 November 2014 kab.sww.sh.gov.cn · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-a80c4e52980fb039
Publisher
Name not classified · kab.sww.sh.gov.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2014-11-20
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
No locator recordedDescriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
China Belt and Road Portal (government, republishing People's Daily) — Yangshan Phase IV opens, 11 December 2017 yidaiyilu.gov.cn · 5 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-a962043523fd0f45
Publisher
Name not classified · yidaiyilu.gov.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2017-12-11
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
No locator recordedDescriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Qiushi (republishing People's Daily) — How Shanghai powers the world's fastest port operations (14 Aug 2026) en.qstheory.cn · 4 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-9d90f21cdc613188
Publisher
Name not classified · en.qstheory.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-08-14
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

People's Daily report republished by Qiushi: the terminal handled more than 8 million TEU in 2025; crane operators work from control rooms more than 30 km and over 100 km away.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Pudong New Area government — Shanghai Port achieves record container throughput (31 Oct 2025) english.pudong.gov.cn · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-5a95af871cb3ea02
Publisher
Name not classified · english.pudong.gov.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-10-31
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

District government page citing SIPG: Yangshan Phase IV's annual capacity raised from 6.3 million to 8 million TEU, with 2025 throughput reaching 8 million.

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

🇩🇪 smartPORT Hamburg · Hamburg Two smart ports: Hamburg added a bridge/road twin and truck app to its port (2015); Yangshan IV runs a fully automated terminal (2017). 🇳🇱 Rotterdam Municipal Digital Twin · Rotterdam Ports chasing automation: Yangshan IV runs unmanned AGVs and remote cranes (2017); Rotterdam's twin aims its port at autonomous shipping. 🇨🇳 Tianjin Zero-Carbon Smart Terminal · Tianjin Yangshan (2017) proved unmanned AGVs and remote cranes; Tianjin's 2021 terminal repeats that on wind and solar supply.

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📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Yangshan Port Phase IV automated container terminal” — Shanghai, China. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/shanghai-yangshan-port-phase-iv/ (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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