At an automobile terminal of the Guangzhou Port in Nansha, Guangdong province, a vessel loaded with 2,291 units of automobiles was fully prepared to embark on the upgraded China-Thailand-Persian Gulf route on Thursday.

To serve Chinese automakers entering the Thai market, the existing China-Persian Gulf line has been optimized and upgraded to include a stop in Thailand, forming a monthly China-Thailand-Persian Gulf route.

Facing the continuous growth of demand for Chinese automobiles in Southeast Asia, the new route will provide a secure, efficient, and stable supply chain guarantee for Chinese automobile exports, helping Chinese companies to expand overseas and achieve greater development in key markets.

These latest exports reflect a strong handling capacity in automobile exports and imports at the Guangzhou Port over the past few months, according to the port authority.

Guangzhou Port, one of the largest ports in terms of automobile handling capacity, exported 258,000 units of automobiles from January to September, with a year-on-year increase of 56 percent, according to the local port authority.

Major automobile shipping companies have established international trade routes at the Guangzhou Port, which has core advantages in automobile roll-on/roll-off transportation, to meet the export needs of many domestic and foreign automobile companies, the port authority added.

In 2017, the annual throughput of rolled-on/rolled-off automobiles at the port exceeded one million units and settled at a scale of 1.5 million units from 2020 to 2022.

As one of the first designated ports for automobile imports in China, Guangzhou Port has built several berths and terminals since 2004, forming a large roll-on/roll-off operation pattern for handling automobiles.

The port is a gateway for automobiles serving the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It has 12 roll-on/roll-off berths and 2 million square meters of automobile storage yards. The port has an annual handling capacity of over 3 million units and a one-time storage capacity of over 80,000 units.