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On Sunday, China’s OneConnect Financial Technology Co, owned by diversified insurer (and “Smart Cities” investor) Ping An Group, along with Hong Kong-based multinational China Merchants Group, a key player in China’s Belt and Road initiative, announced the successful launch of a “smart port” initiative using blockchain technology.
The so-called “Greater Bay Area Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Logistics and Trade Facilitation Blockchain Platform Project” will serve the ports of Shekou and Shunde, two of the 37 ports in the Greater Bay Area, one of the largest port areas of the world .
With the introduction of an integrated ecosystem of “linked port”, OneConnect’s blockchain technology aims to improve communication and streamline the customs clearance processes of ports, allowing trade participants to verify the authenticity of any business transaction by validating information cross-border trading companies registered on the blockchain.
The technology project is part of a new infrastructure plan promoted by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and other government entities in the region.
Pilot
OneConnect announced that in its successful pilot project, 200 twenty foot equivalents (TEUs) of real goods have been imported and exported between the ports of Shekou and Shunde. The technology linking the two ports reduced the logistical processes related to import and export from five to seven days to just two days, while the associated costs of freight and customs declaration fell by 30 percent.
Now active, the smart port will use advanced technologies, including blockchain, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing, to enable intelligent regulation, commerce and finance processes. As a technical partner for the project, OneConnect created the main standards of port logistics data and the blockchain platform.
China Merchants Group’s port in western Shenzhen will serve as a key smart port, enabling resource sharing through blockchain technology, promoting efficient logistics and a digital ecosystem for port shipping in the Greater Bay Area.
Smart regs
A “smart door” automates various strategic functions across the business. OneConnect’s platform integrates smart regulation, for example, to simplify customs clearance processes. This, in turn, reduces the number of customs declaration procedures from two to one, using cross-validation capabilities made possible by blockchain technology and real-time information capture via Internet of Things (IoT) -based processes.
Since the data on the blockchain cannot be tampered with and allows for automatic cross-checking via encrypted data, OneConnect says it will ensure that logistics data is traceable and impossible to change, thus improving authentication processes for logistics and transportation.
The platform will also issue alerts in real time to assist customs offices in managing any sensitive data relating to ships, containers and freight.
Smart doors
In May of this year, China Merchant Ports Group Bai Jingtao told Seatrade Maritime News trade publication that CMP was promoting the development of smart ports in three Chinese cities, namely Shenzhen, Ningbo and Zhanjiang.
In Shenzhen, he noted, three major smart port projects were already operational: the China Container Terminal’s RTG (Rubber Gantry Crane) remote control system (the largest such terminal in China); Shekou Container Terminal (SCT) and CCT’s Intelligent Cargo Handling System; and Mawan’s smart port project at the Haizing terminal. The latter project, Mawan, was the site for a so-called “5G Intelligent Port Innovation Laboratory” which was jointly established by CMP, China Mobile, Huawei and other entities in June 2019.
Recent market research has predicted that the size of the global smart port market will reach nearly $ 14 billion by 2027, reflecting a CAGR of 32.4% over the period. Growth drivers include the need for throughput improvements across different port types and operational cost pressures, as well as a greater need for real-time business data visibility to aid in port authority decision-making processes.
