1001 Smart Cities
🇨🇳 Guangzhou

Nansha Port Phase IV Automated Container Terminal

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 8 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

8 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

Guangzhou's Nansha terminal was the Greater Bay Area's first fully automated port — an AI "Super Brain" routes driverless IGVs between robotic cranes, and throughput doubled year-on-year by 2024.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byGuangzhou Port Group
Scale🏘️ District

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,167 documented projects · 🏙️ 7 more in Guangzhou · 🚗 Autonomous vehicles guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Guangzhou Port Group's Nansha Phase IV terminal, opened 28 July 2022, was the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's first fully automated container terminal: automated quay cranes hand containers to intelligent guided vehicles (IGVs) routed by an AI scheduling system the operator calls the terminal's "Super Brain," with automated yard cranes replacing on-site crews. It is also China's first fully automated terminal built for river-sea-rail multimodal transfer, with four 100,000-tonne berths and 4.9 million TEU/year design capacity. Container throughput through the automated terminal reached 1.81 million TEUs in the first half of 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year, and the operator reports roughly 70% lower manpower needs than a conventional terminal; a Phase V expansion was approved for the same automated model in March 2025.

Live 📅 since 2022

📊 Impact

1.81 million TEUs handled by the automated terminal in H1 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year; operator-reported ~70% lower manpower requirement than a conventional terminal (Guangzhou Port Group / state media, 2022–2024).

🎓 Lesson

A doubling in a terminal's second full year measures the ramp toward design capacity, not a gain from automation: the comparison is against a half-year in which four new berths were still filling. The design figure the operator gives — 4.9 million TEUs a year — is the one the throughput is climbing toward. The number that would settle the automation question is moves per crane hour against a comparable conventional terminal, and nobody publishes it. What is published is a manpower saving of about 70%, quoted by the terminal's own general manager, with no independent measurement anywhere in the sourcing. The commitment is real regardless: Phase V was approved for the same automated model in March 2025, which is a bet made on operating experience the operator has and the public does not.

🚲 MobilityAutonomous vehiclesSensors & IoTArtificial intelligence

Sources

↗ GDToday/newsgd.com (press)Published 1 August 2022Published 1 August 2022. Source for the opening date, the IGV and crane choreography, and two operator statements from He Yeke, general manager of Nansha Phase IV: four 100,000-tonne berths with a total annual handling capacity of 4.9 million TEUs, and 'The automated terminal saves about 70 percent of manpower and guarantees a higher level of safety for production.'
↗ China Daily / Invest in China (press)Published 26 December 2024H1 2024 automated-terminal throughput of 1.81M TEUs, +102.7% YoY; Nansha area's 2024 total throughput passing 20M TEUs.
↗ Port Technology International (trade press)Published 4 August 2022Confirms automated terminal operations start and technology description.
↗ China Daily Nansha (press)Published 21 August 2024'Super Brain' AI scheduling system, IGV/automated-crane integration, Phase V approval context.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2022. 4 of 4 sources carry a publication date, from 1 August 2022 to 26 December 2024.

When the sources were published

  1. GDToday · pressGDToday/newsgd.com (press)
  2. Port Technology International · pressPort Technology International (trade press)
  3. China Daily · pressChina Daily Nansha (press)
  4. China Daily · pressChina Daily / Invest in China (press)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 8 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence Passport · public beta 8 addressable claims, 4 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 8

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-0ebcb51db30a1177 quantitative
Guangzhou Port Group's Nansha Phase IV terminal, opened 28 July 2022, was the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's first fully automated container terminal
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
'The fourth phase of Guangzhou Port's Nansha area was put into operation on July 28, making it the first fully-automated container terminal in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.' Port Technology International reported the start of automated operations in the same week.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
  2. Port Technology International (trade press)
Claim 2 clm-ce07d12cff4b6569 descriptive
automated quay cranes hand containers to intelligent guided vehicles (IGVs) routed by an AI scheduling system the operator calls the terminal's "Super Brain," with automated yard cranes replacing on-site crews
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
'The container cranes accurately grab the containers from the ship and then place them on the IGV (Intelligent Guided Vehicle) as per instruction made by the central information system. The routes of the IGV are planned through intelligent algorithms.' The China Daily Nansha piece describes the same scheduling layer under the operator's 'Super Brain' name.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
  2. China Daily Nansha (press)
Claim 3 clm-34cc47899a52d137 quantitative
with four 100,000-tonne berths and 4.9 million TEU/year design capacity
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
'Nansha Port's fourth phase terminal has four 100,000-ton marine berths with a total annual handling capacity of 4.9 million TEUs, according to He Yeke, General Manager of the Nansha Port's fourth phase.'
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 4 clm-ba351a95123eac03 quantitative
Container throughput through the automated terminal reached 1.81 million TEUs in the first half of 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The China Daily / Invest in China report of 26 December 2024 carries the automated terminal's first-half 2024 throughput and the year-on-year change.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily / Invest in China (press)
Claim 5 clm-1f221da78fec2327 quantitative
the operator reports roughly 70% lower manpower needs than a conventional terminal
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
He Yeke, general manager of Nansha Phase IV: 'The automated terminal saves about 70 percent of manpower and guarantees a higher level of safety for production.'
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 6 clm-09d76072a67dffc9 quantitative
a Phase V expansion was approved for the same automated model in March 2025
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The China Daily Nansha piece covers the Phase V approval context alongside the Super Brain scheduling system.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily Nansha (press)
Claim 7 clm-228118ddea7e2584 quantitative
1.81 million TEUs handled by the automated terminal in H1 2024, up 102.7% year-on-year; operator-reported ~70% lower manpower requirement than a conventional terminal (Guangzhou Port Group / state media, 2022–2024)
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The throughput and growth figures come from the December 2024 report; the manpower saving is the terminal general manager's own statement from the opening coverage.
Caveat
Growth from a terminal that opened mid-2022 measures the ramp toward capacity; the manpower figure is the operator's, with no independent comparison published.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily / Invest in China (press)
  2. GDToday/newsgd.com (press)
Claim 8 clm-9cadbb45bd454453 quantitative
Phase V was approved for the same automated model in March 2025
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The same China Daily Nansha report carries the Phase V approval.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. China Daily Nansha (press)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-27-claims-and-sources effective 2026-08-27 · created 2026-08-27

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

Erratum on this revision's envelope. The snapshot, its hash and its permanent link are untouched.

  • createdAt previously read 2026-08-30T11:00:00Z. The batching script that produced this revision advanced createdAt into the future to satisfy the strictly-increasing order the validator requires per entity. The value never recorded a real event; the corrected value is the moment the revision provably existed in the repository. Corrected to 2026-08-27T03:03:19Z on 2026-08-27; evidence: first appears in commit d007e17420, committed 2026-08-27T03:03:19Z.
sha256:fe2b88251e8e7c92016b71a6e5e8102e97207acbc94e249cf94b424711e0ded7
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
8
of 8 claims mapped
4
source dossiers
4
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
Guangzhou Port Group
Actor types
utility
Funding model
public
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

4 source dossiers

GDToday/newsgd.com (press) newsgd.com · 5 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-a3b656520eb61e2d
Publisher
Name not classified · newsgd.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2022-08-01
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-27
Dossier created
2026-08-30
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Published 1 August 2022. Source for the opening date, the IGV and crane choreography, and two operator statements from He Yeke, general manager of Nansha Phase IV: four 100,000-tonne berths with a total annual handling capacity of 4.9 million TEUs, and 'The automated terminal saves about 70 percent of manpower and guarantees a higher level of safety for production.'

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
China Daily / Invest in China (press) investinchina.chinadaily.com.cn · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-90b1382770766142
Publisher
Name not classified · investinchina.chinadaily.com.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-12-26
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-27
Dossier created
2026-08-30
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

H1 2024 automated-terminal throughput of 1.81M TEUs, +102.7% YoY; Nansha area's 2024 total throughput passing 20M TEUs.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Port Technology International (trade press) porttechnology.org · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-34303cbfd34d82f6
Publisher
Name not classified · porttechnology.org
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2022-08-04
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-27
Dossier created
2026-08-30
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Confirms automated terminal operations start and technology description.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
China Daily Nansha (press) nansha.guangdong.chinadaily.com.cn · 3 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-81370bec638a4b5c
Publisher
Name not classified · nansha.guangdong.chinadaily.com.cn
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-08-21
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-27
Dossier created
2026-08-30
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

'Super Brain' AI scheduling system, IGV/automated-crane integration, Phase V approval context.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇰🇷 Busan New Port West Container Terminal Phase 2-5 · Busan Same genre: automated quay cranes and guided vehicles, with a similar crew-reduction claim from the operator. 🇨🇳 Yangshan Port Phase IV automated container terminal · Shanghai Sister facility: China's other flagship fully automated terminal, both using AGVs and remote-controlled yard cranes. 🇨🇳 Tianjin Zero-Carbon Smart Terminal · Tianjin Domestic peer automated terminal, but Tianjin's autonomy claim is narrower — only its transport robots are Level 4.

Explore the wider context

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📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Nansha Port Phase IV Automated Container Terminal” — Guangzhou, China. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/guangzhou-nansha-port-terminal/ (last verified 2026-08-27). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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