For many people, the city of Ningbo may not sound as well-known as metropolis such as Beijing and Shanghai in China, but it may be closer to the daily life: the Chinese-made hardware tools, rice cookers and even new energy vehicles people bought are very likely to travel across the ocean from this Chinese city in east China's Zhejiang Province.
The high probability of this trade link comes from Ningbo's unique port status, according to Information Office of Municipal Government of Ningbo. 
In the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port which faces the East China Sea, ships with a maximum carrying weight of 300,000 tonnes can come and go freely, and super ships with a maximum carrying weight above 400,000 tonnes can enter and exit with the tide. It is a rare outstanding deep-water port in the world.
Last year, the throughput of the port reached 1.324 billion tonnes, ranking first in the world for 15 consecutive years, and its container throughput ranked third worldwide. It's also home to the largest iron ore terminal in China, the largest crude oil terminal in Asia and the second largest single container terminal on earth.
Ningbo has been an important trading center since ancient times. As early as the Tang Dynasty, Ningbo was one of the starting points of the Maritime Silk Road. In modern times, Ningbo was one of the five treaty ports open to foreign trade. After 1978, Ningbo was among the country's first coastal cities to embrace the country's reform and opening-up campaign.

Source prnewswire