Recently, at the roll‑on/roll‑off (Ro-Ro) berth of Paihe Port in Hefei, professional drivers drove Anhui‑made cars straight from the storage yard onto the ship decks, with the entire process well-coordinated and orderly.

“These vehicles are mainly bound for Switzerland and France; they will travel along the Jianghuai Canal into the Yangtze River and, upon arrival in Shanghai, be transshipped onto ocean-going Ro‑Ro vessels for export,” Wang Gan, General Manager of Anhui Port and Shipping Logistics Group Co., Ltd., told reporters. From Paihe Port to Shanghai Haitong Terminal, the distance is 590 kilometers, with an estimated sailing time of about 50 hours.

As an important component of Hefei’s national production‑service logistics hub, Paihe Port has been fully incorporated into the China (Anhui) Pilot Free Trade Zone Hefei Area. The port’s Phase I project includes eight 2,000‑ton berths and is designed for an annual throughput capacity of 250,000 TEUs, 1.2 million tonnes of general cargo, and 100,000 units of Ro‑Ro vehicles. The planned Phase II will add another eight 2,000‑ton berths and is currently in the preparation stage.

Since the inaugural sailing of the Hefei–Shanghai Ro‑Ro route on January 15, 2025, Paihe Port’s Ro‑Ro transport has provided automakers with a convenient export channel while also reducing logistics costs. “Using Ro‑Ro transport to Shanghai cuts logistics costs by about RMB 100–150 per vehicle,” Wang said. To date, the port and shipping logistics group has deployed five inland Ro‑Ro vessels with 370 vehicle berths each, providing efficient, cost-effective, and secure logistics support primarily to major OEMs such as BYD, JAC, Changan, and Chery.

Beyond inland Ro‑Ro services, the provincial port and shipping group has partnered with Chery Group and JAC Motors to build an Anhui international Ro‑Ro ocean-going transport platform, putting into operation three LNG dual‑fuel ocean-going Ro‑Ro vessels with 7,000 vehicle berths each and launching international car Ro‑Ro routes to the Mediterranean, South America, the Persian Gulf, and other regions. Using a mix of self-owned capacity, chartering, and booking shipping slots, the international ocean-going Ro‑Ro routes now cover 68 international hub ports in 38 countries and have provided port and shipping services for nearly 90% of Anhui automakers’ exports, reducing logistics costs for manufacturers by about 30%.

In addition, Paihe Port is the only terminal in Hefei certified to handle Category 9 dangerous goods such as lithium batteries and environmentally harmful substances, providing a one-stop service for the export of products such as lithium batteries and energy storage cabinets.

According to available information, in the first quarter of this year Paihe Port handled 41,817 TEUs of containers—a year‑on‑year increase of 32%; handled 6,159 Ro-Ro vehicles, a surge of 332% year‑on‑year; and processed 38,000 tonnes of general cargo, up 96% year‑on‑year, marking a strong start for the year.

Source: Anhui Daily