Port
The original meaning of port is a coastal port designated by the country for foreign trade. But in today's society, ports are no longer just commercial ports for economic and trade exchanges (i.e. commerce), but also include ports for exchanges in politics, diplomacy, science and technology, culture, tourism and immigration; ports no longer only refer to ports located along the coast. With the development of land and air transportation, foreign trade goods, inbound and outbound personnel and their luggage, mail packages, etc., can reach the hinterland of a country directly through railways and air. Therefore, the country has also set up ports to carry out international transport, international air parcel and mail exchange business, and other places where there is foreign trade and border trade. Simply put, a port is a gateway designated by the country for foreign exchanges and a hub for international cargo transportation. To some extent, it is a special international logistics node.
Ports can be classified from different perspectives. Commonly used classification methods are:
1. Divide according to approved permissions. Ports can be divided into Category I ports and Category II ports upon approval.
Category I ports refer to ports approved by the State Council for opening (including ports managed by the central government and some ports managed by provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government).
Category II ports refer to ports approved and managed by provincial people’s governments.
2. Divided according to the mode of transportation for entry and exit. According to the transportation mode of entry and exit, ports can be divided into port ports, land ports and aviation ports.
China Electronic Port uses modern information technology and relies on the resources of the national telecommunications company to centrally store the electronic ledger data of import and export business information flow, capital flow, and cargo flow managed by various national administrative agencies into public data departments and cross-industry databases. With online data verification, companies can handle various import and export businesses online.
Ports are gathering points and hubs for water and land transportation, distribution centers for industrial and agricultural products and foreign trade import and export materials, and places for ships to berth, load and unload cargo, board and disembark passengers, and replenish supplies. Since the port is a natural interface connecting the inland hinterland and ocean transportation (international air transportation), people also regard the port as a special node of international logistics.