On April 17, Eastern Star 37 docked at No. 8 of Qingzhou, Haiying Wharf, Fuzhou, carried a cargo of goods for Haitian Wharf, Xiamen Port, marking the opening of the first strait express line connecting Fuzhou City with Xiamen City. This service gives a strong impetus to Fujian public transportation system.

The service is enabled by three ships which travel between fixed wharfs, on fixed route and schedule, with guaranteed shipping space and trunk line. The daily service between Fuzhou and Xiamen will significantly increase logistics efficiency, and reduce operating costs. For customers, this stable round-trip service provides a new transport alternative.

Haiying Wharf is the first of its kind in Fuzhou Port, which is authorized to transport containers on a same vessel for both domestic and foreign trade, and provides seamless container service between Fuzhou and Xiamen ports. Since its operation in 2012, the wharf has opened a number of branch lines for foreign trade, and routes for domestic trade. The container throughput has grown from 173,000 TEUs in 2012 to 287,000 TEUs in 2022, and is expected to exceed 300,000 TEUs this year.

Fuzhou-Xiamen Strait Express will serve as a marine fast track between the two ports, both of which can thus gain a complementary advantage. In the future, Fujian will launch more express lines connecting Jiangyin to Haicang, and Ningde to Xiamen. These lines will be integrated into the marine transportation network along China’s southeastern coast, boosting economic development and helping Fujian become a major hub as China accelerates the building of a new development paradigm with domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other.