At Rizhao Port: Small phone screen unlocks code to transform, upgrade China’s global trade

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By Chu Daye, Zhang Weilan, Lin Luwen (Global Times) 08:58, June 06, 2025

In the sunlit repair depot of Rizhao Port of Shandong Port Group, Xu Guannan stands in front of a giant 17-ton wheel loader. This beast of a machine, capable of lifting 3 cubic meters of coals in one scoop, is not humming well these days, sending its work efficiency down. Initial reports suggest the machine is hit by overheating problems, but dozens of parts could be the culprit.

A traditional repair work would by this time start climbing this behemoth and try to scout for faulty parts, guided by hunches and experience. Instead, Xu, deputy head of the Technology Innovation Center of Rizhao Port, reached into his pocket to grab his smartphone. From the small screen, Xu accessed the interface of a digital repair manual developed by his team of software engineers and powered by the latest artificial intelligence (AI) tool DeepSeek, which analyzed the problem in a flash and gave the answer: a ventilation valve on the gearbox is at fault.

This is just a snapshot of the high-tech-powered, smart operation of Rizhao Port, which has earned the highest praise for its successful transformation and upgrade over the years.

On the afternoon of May 22, 2024, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Chinese president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited Rizhao Port, the Xinhua News Agency reported at the time.

Xi said that Rizhao Port, as a new port after China's reform and opening-up drive, has transformed itself from a traditional port into a modern one through scientific and technological innovation in recent years. It has not only made the cargo throughput among the forefront of the country, but also accumulated experience in developing new quality productive forces through the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, which is worthy of praise, Xi said, according to Xinhua.

Currently, as global trade has encountered profound turbulence due to rising unilateralism and protectionism in certain parts of the world, China's focus on building modern ports and developing new quality productive forces underscore its unwavering commitment not only to high-quality development at home, but also to mutually beneficial trade with the rest of the world.

This is also the underlying logic of China's development of the port economy: Let the world share China's opportunities. In stark contrast to certain countries wielding the tariff stick against others, China is committed to building world-class ports to expand its "circle of friends" of trading partners, contributing to the stability of global supply chains.

'Chinese model'

Such a commitment translates into real action at Rizhao Port: autonomous trucks glide across the docks, guided by AI precision; Towering cranes, controlled remotely from a sleek command center, dance in perfect sync, unloading megaships with balletic grace.

Behind this futuristic symphony of machines working seamlessly together are years of dedicated efforts to transform this once modest port into a high-tech titan, earning accolades as a "Chinese model" for the transformation and upgrading of traditional terminals into fully automated container terminals worldwide.

For Xu and his team, that means harnessing the country's latest technological advancements to empower the port's operation.

Since last year, Xu's team sorted out and compiled a total of 400,000 paper maintenance log entries in the past 10 years for the port's dozens of wheel loaders and made all the information digitalized into a knowledge graph. "In a way, we perpetuated old repair masters' wisdom through digitalization and AI," Xu told the Global Times.

The adoption of large language model is just one facets of the port's efforts in harnessing the hardcore power of technology to empower the port's smart operations.

Tian Zhendong, a first-grade technician at the Technology Innovation Center of Rizhao Port of Shandong Port Group and a holder of the National May 1 Labor Medal, works at the port's 100-million-ton dry bulk cargo terminal.