Once a modest fishing outpost, the port city of Rizhao is rewriting its future. Since Shijiu Port opened in 1986 and the city won prefecture-level status in 1989, officials have treated the waterfront as the engine driving industrial development.

The bet is paying off: port-related industries have accounted for over 85 percent of the city's above-scale industrial output and profits for years.

An aerial view of Shandong Port Group's fully automated container terminal at Rizhao Port. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Smart port serves as global hub

Rizhao now runs the only Chinese harbor with two 1,000-kilometre railways entering the yard, enabling fully automated unloading-to-loading cycles for both trains and ships. 5G, AI and a lightweight edge-computing platform allow real-time visualization of every container.

Officials reported that Rizhao Port handled 552 million metric tons last year, ranking 10th nationwide. The port ranks first nationally in six cargo categories and exceeds 10 million tons in nine others, serving as a global hub for grain, energy and bulk raw materials.

From coal yard to golden shore

Development has not come at the expense of the coast. A 100 percent excellent water-quality record in near-shore waters earned Rizhao pilot status for China's "beautiful bays" programme.

The refurbished Hailong Bay reopened to the public on May 25, completing an eight-year, 460,000-square-meter beach restoration that turned a former coal stockpile into 1,882 meters of ecological shoreline where finless porpoises and egrets now outnumber bulldozers.

Business climate fuels prosperity

Rizhao has paired hardware upgrades with red-tape cuts under a new business-environment plan that promises "convenient, efficient and reassuring" approvals. Officials said the reforms are designed to convert the port's cargo traffic into lasting economic "increment" and to deepen the fusion of port, industrial park and downtown districts.

According to city data released in June, in the first five months of 2025, fixed-asset investment rose 8.3 percent year-on-year, industrial output above designated size by 8.1 percent, and the revenue of service enterprises above designated size by 10.6 percent. If current momentum holds, Rizhao's experiment could offer a template for other coastal cities in balancing growth, livability, and climate goals.