Ocean-going vessels of COSCO SHIPPING Group are docked at the West Basin Container Terminal of the Port of Los Angeles, USA.

Photo courtesy of COSCO SHIPPING Group North America

At the Port of Los Angeles, California, on the west coast of the United States, waves surge towards the dock, splashing waves. Huge container ships are coming in and out, and the port area is busy.

¡°It¡¯s like meeting an old friend¡±

Mark Wehler, 70, has retired from his position as vice president of the West Basin Container Terminal Company of the Port of Los Angeles for four years. Although he lives far away in South Carolina, he still cares about the Port of Los Angeles where he has worked for decades. Whenever he talks about his career, an exciting scene always comes to his mind - "It was February 16, 2012, when Xi Jinping, then Vice President of China, came to Los Angeles to visit and inspect the China Shipping Los Angeles Terminal. I was the terminal operations manager at the time and witnessed a story of mutual benefit and win-win between the United States and China on the spot." Recalling the scene more than 10 years ago, Werler felt that "everything happened just like yesterday". "I didn't expect a leader of a big country to be so approachable. He shook hands with everyone and waved warmly to the crew on the cargo ship. We were like meeting an old friend for many years." Werler narrated. The Port of Los Angeles is the port with the largest container throughput in the United States and the first stop for Chinese goods to cross the Pacific Ocean to enter the United States. In 2001, as a shareholder, a subsidiary of COSCO Shipping Group leased the terminal through a joint venture and held part of the equity of the West Port Container Terminal of the Port of Los Angeles and the Pacific Terminal of the Port of Long Beach. After that, the port ushered in rapid development. By 2012, the average annual container throughput of the West Port Container Terminal reached 1.5 million TEUs, accounting for 1/10 of the total container throughput of the Port of Los Angeles, contributing $100 million in direct tax revenue to the U.S. federal and local governments, and creating nearly 10,000 jobs.

"The Chinese leaders are very familiar with the situation at the terminal and praised that all our equipment uses propane as fuel, which is a successful example of making full use of clean energy." Weler's tone was full of pride: "Government officials and entrepreneurs such as the Governor of California, the Mayor of Los Angeles, and the head of the Port of Los Angeles are extremely honored, and all the employees of the terminal are even more proud."

Since 2012, COSCO Shipping Group has always adhered to the principles of pragmatic cooperation, serving economic and trade, and mutual benefit, and has continuously increased its investment in routes, funds, and technology in the entire Los Angeles area. At present, the import goods of the Port of Los Angeles are mainly furniture, auto parts, plastics, clothing and shoes, and electronic products, and the export goods of the Port of Long Beach are mainly cotton, meat, food, etc.

"Actively promote local economic and social development"

"For many years, the Port of Los Angeles has played an important role in US-China trade." Wehrle told reporters that the port development in the Los Angeles area has benefited from the mutually beneficial cooperation between the United States and China.

Currently, COSCO SHIPPING Group has created a total of about 2,400 direct jobs in the United States, including about 400 jobs related to shipping operations and about 2,000 jobs related to terminal operations. In the daily cooperation with suppliers such as trucks, railways, and tugboats, the terminals operated by the group have created about 15,000 jobs.

"For many years, COSCO SHIPPING Group's terminals in the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have actively promoted local economic and social development and worked hard to serve customers' transportation needs, especially when the supply chain was tight, properly solving the problems of insufficient space supply and terminal congestion, and there has never been a customer complaint that the regulatory agency intervened in the investigation." Gu Quanlin served as the president of Westport Container Terminals in 2012 and is now the vice president of COSCO SHIPPING Group North America.

According to Gu Quanlin, at the most severe moment of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COSCO SHIPPING Terminals creatively adopted a multimodal transport and fast evacuation method to quickly deliver the epidemic prevention materials urgently needed by customers to customers in the Midwest of the United States through the Port of Long Beach, making outstanding contributions to the local people's response to the epidemic.

In addition, COSCO SHIPPING Group has strengthened management in ship deceleration, shore power use, offshore emissions, equipment emissions, etc., which is fully in line with the green concept advocated by the California government for many years and actively promotes local environmental protection. Paul Nazzaro, vice president of COSCO SHIPPING Group North America, gave an example: "Since 2012, COSCO SHIPPING Terminals has actively participated in the Port of Los Angeles' "Ship Environmental Index Program", which requires ship operators to slow down to 12 knots or less at the 40-nautical-mile (about 74-kilometer) port entrance. The ships entering and leaving our terminal have met the requirements for 11 consecutive years."

Nazzaro said that in terms of protecting the marine environment and marine life, COSCO SHIPPING Terminals has always been at the forefront of the entire Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. The Santa Barbara Channel, which is adjacent to the Port of Long Beach, is 130 kilometers long and is located between the coast of Southern California and the Channel Islands. This sea area is not only an important channel for the shipping industry, but also one of the world's major gathering places for blue whales. From July to November every year, a large number of large marine creatures such as blue whales, humpback whales, and fin whales migrate here. If the ship's speed is too fast, it will have a serious impact on the whale group.

Since 2018, COSCO SHIPPING Group has actively implemented the "Protect Blue Whales and Protect Blue Skies" environmental protection plan, and has arranged relevant protection operations for a total of 111 voyages, which not only weaves an effective safety net for marine animals, but also reduces the emission of pollutants such as greenhouse gases and suspended particles. From 2020 to 2022, COSCO SHIPPING Group won the "Sapphire Award", the highest award for the "Protect Blue Whales and Protect Blue Skies" project awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States for three consecutive years.

"Find more common ground through contact and dialogue"

Brian Pike, chairman of the Los Angeles Regional Export Council, said that China is California's largest trading partner. The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach are important hubs for California and the entire West Coast of the United States to China. One-third of the goods in US-China trade are transported through the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. California is the state that attracts the most Chinese investment in the United States, and it is also the state with the most Chinese students and tourists. The close relationship between California and China is a reflection of the close integration of US and Chinese interests, and highlights the mutually beneficial and win-win nature of US-China economic and trade cooperation.

After 2012, the cargo handling equipment at the West Port Container Terminal was upgraded, with the addition of bridge cranes and many more environmentally friendly cargo handling equipment, and the cargo handling volume increased by 50%. Werle told our reporter: "This is all thanks to the continued investment of Chinese companies in the terminal. The increase in the amount of cargo transportation means an increase in trade, which means an increase in jobs and income, which is of great help to the career development and life of myself and my colleagues."

The Shanghai-Los Angeles route is one of the most dynamic shipping routes in the world. There are 9 international container liner routes between the two ports every week. In 2022, the volume of containers between the two ports will exceed 1.3 million standard containers. In October this year, the Shanghai Municipal Government held a working exchange meeting with the Los Angeles Municipal Government and the Port of Los Angeles on the joint construction of the "Shanghai-Los Angeles Green Shipping Corridor". The two sides reached a number of consensuses on the pilot application of marine new energy fuels such as green methanol, the use of ship shore power, and the construction of smart terminals.

"I am very happy to hear the news that President Xi Jinping and President Biden will meet in San Francisco. I look forward to the meeting between the two heads of state to achieve positive results and promote mutual benefit and win-win results for both sides." Werle said, "I sincerely hope that the two major economies of the United States and China can find more common ground in contact and dialogue and continue to write more stories of cooperation and win-win results."

Plastic Industry Video