An international logistics hub in Nansha district of Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, started trial operation in its northern area on Wednesday, playing an important role of ensuring industrial and supply chains in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The north project of the Nansha International Logistics Center, invested by the Guangzhou Port Group, will focus on export businesses, as well as imports as a supplement, according to He Haining, general manager of Guangzhou Port Logistics Co Ltd.

"Businesses of bulk export, international transit, cross-border e-commerce logistics and sea-rail combined transport will be prioritized," he said.

The northern project, with an investment of nearly 1.7 billion yuan ($260 million), aims to grow into the largest single-port warehousing and logistics distribution center in China, according to He.

"It will cover export business from main cities in the Greater Bay Area," he said.

Cargos will be conveniently transported to Southwest China, Europe and Southeast Asia as a container handling yard in the logistics center connects the Nansha Port Railway, according to He.

"It will greatly reduce the comprehensive logistics cost for export-oriented enterprises in the Greater Bay Area, promoting construction of an international shipping logistics center for Guangzhou," he said.

Together with the southern project, which is designed for cold-chain logistics, the Nansha International Logistics Center covers a total area of about 950,000 square meters, with a warehouse capacity of 712,000 tons, the largest of its kind in China's ports, according to the Guangzhou Port Group.

Guangzhou Port has achieved steady growth in cargo and container throughputs since early this year, opening 14 new overseas container routes, according to the company.

The port has so far opened 179 container routes in total, 134 of which are designed for international trade, helping develop its Nansha port area as an international shipping hub.