Video and photos by Lin Jianping

　SHENZHEN'S Yantian Port, the world’s fourth busiest container port, thus far this year has maintained its normal operations as busy and orderly as before the COVID flare-ups in March, a Yantian Port Group executive told Shenzhen Daily in an exclusive interview.

　雖然深圳近期受到疫情影響，世界第四大集裝箱港鹽田港的吞吐作業卻繁忙如初，忙中有序，鹽田港集團經營管理部部長韓勁柏在接受英文《深圳日報》獨家採訪中告訴記者。

　Concerns were raised by some Western media outlets over potential disruptions in global supply chains as a round of Omicron variant outbreaks recently hit Shenzhen, a major shipping hub.

　近期，新冠病毒變異株奧密克戎在深圳引發了一輪疫情。不少西方媒體對這座航運樞紐城市的防疫政策可能加劇全球供應鏈危機表達了擔憂。

　The city’s ports handled 6.3% of the total 450 million TEUs in the world’s top 30 container ports in 2021, according to Alphaliner annual report. Among the ports, Yantian Port processes the shipment of one-third of Guangdong’s imports and exports, and one-fourth of China’s trade with the U.S.

　根據Alphaliner最新發布的2021年年報，深圳集裝箱港口全年累計完成標箱吞吐量占全球前30大集裝箱港口總吞吐量的6.3%。其中鹽田港承擔著廣東省超三分之一的外貿進出口量、全國對美貿易四分之一的貨量。

　Yantian Port Group’s Yantian Port and Dachanwan Port handled 3.59 million TEUs in the first quarter of the year, said Han Jinbai, director of the Department of Business Management of the company.

　韓勁柏介紹道，截至一季度，鹽田港集團所屬鹽田港和大鏟灣港作業量累計實現吞吐量約359.42萬標箱。

　Han Jinbai, director of the Department of Business Management of the Yantian Port Group, receives an interview.

　「The quarterly data declined slightly year on year, yet it still stays at historically high levels. Yantian Port far surpassed our expectations in terms of foreign trade containers throughput,」 he said.

　「一季度的數據較上年同期略有下降。但在歷史數據當中，它仍然處在一個高位。鹽田港在發揮我們對外貿易輸出的表現中遠遠超出了我們的預期。」他表示。

　Yantian Port maintained its high containers throughout even though Shenzhen tightened its COVID prevention and control measures, thanks to the company’s rapid response to the pandemic situation.

　在嚴峻的疫情防控形勢下，鹽田港集團對疫情風險進行及時研判並迅速行動，港口得以持續保持高吞吐量。

　The company had developed contingency plans during the Spring Festival in February, far earlier than the weeklong lockdown in March.

　早在春節期間，鹽田港已經主動調整防疫措施，做好各項應急準備。

　The busy Yantian Port.

　「On March 2, we arranged for nearly 900 frontline port workers to reside in centralized accommodations at the port and adopted closed-loop management to ensure the port’s operation remains independent, stable, and unaffected by the pandemic,」 he said.

　「我們安排近900名一線關鍵崗位人員於3月2日搬進港區內的臨時住宿點，並採取了閉環管理措施，確保港口生產獨立、平穩、不受影響。」他談到。

　Since the middle of March, all of Yantian Port’s 20 container berths have been occupied with loading and unloading vessels, among which 13-15 are liners. 「All port workers have been going all out to ensure the security of the supply chains in the safest and most effective way,」 he said.

　3月中旬以來，鹽田港20個泊位連續多日靠滿船隻，當中有13-15艘遠洋班輪。「港口作業人員全力以赴，以安全高效的方式確保供應鏈穩定，目前港口生產繁忙而有序。」 他介紹道。

　Meanwhile, the port is also expediting the construction of more berths in its eastern operation area. The area will have three automated container berths for 200,000-ton vessels, according to Han.

　與此同時，鹽田港正加快建設東部港區集裝箱碼頭。東港區計劃建成三個20萬噸的全智能化泊位。建成之後將會成為全球最先進的智慧碼頭。

　Besides newly launched daily fast-track shipping lines to Hong Kong, the company has also added four new foreign trade sea routes this year. By now, Yantian Port has opened 108 shipping routes. 「The shipping lines are very smooth,」 Han said.

　今年以來，鹽田港開通了輸港快線天天班並新增了四條外貿航線。目前，鹽田港共有國際航線108條。「基本上航線通道非常通暢。」他告訴記者。

　The government relief policies, which were issued amid the latest pandemic flare-ups, benefited the company in terms of cutting and restraining costs of tax, rent, and social security contributions.

　疫情當前，深圳市政府提供了一系列普惠性紓困政策，切實降低了鹽田港集團在稅費、租金和社保等方面的運營成本。

　Answering the call of the government, this city-owned enterprise also offered rental reduction and exemption for more than 400 small and micro service enterprises and manufacturers, as well as individually owned businesses, that rent its properties, with a relief of over 57 million yuan.

　作為市屬的國有企業，鹽田港集團也積極響應政府號召，對承租其場所的約400家服務業小微企業、製造業小微企業、個體工商戶提供減免租金的優惠。經初步測算，租金減免約5700萬元。