At the 2026 World Intelligent Industry Expo held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Tianjin), the Embodied Intelligence Exhibition Area, making its debut as an independent pavilion, showcased nearly 150 types of robots and related products. Among them, a "land, sea, and air" robot team captured significant attention: Galileo quadruped robots and wheel-legged composite robots navigated obstacles with agility, while YunSheng's "aerial grid operator" smart drones hovered in place, and DeepBlue underwater robots targeted the deep sea.
Twenty kilometers away on the shores of Bohai Bay, at the world's first "smart and zero-carbon" terminal, another group of robots was hard at work. Artificial intelligence transport robots moved autonomously, automated quay cranes performed precise loading and unloading, marking the start of another operational day at the Port of Tianjin.
These two scenes point to the same core question: as artificial intelligence moves from the laboratory to the front lines of production, how can a port city transform its technological advantages into industrial growth momentum?
The answer lies in using the port as a central hub to catalyze a transformation in new quality productive forces within the coastal region.
Understanding the Port of Tianjin requires recognizing its strategic position on the national chessboard. Its uniqueness stems from facing two directions: one inland and one toward the ocean. This geographic endowment determines that it is not only Tianjin's gateway to the sea but also the maritime portal for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and northern China, serving as a pivotal port hub.
In November 2025, Tianjin Municipality released its proposals for the 15th Five-Year Plan, upgrading the Port of Tianjin's goal from "benchmarking against world-class ports" to "accelerating the construction of a world-class smart, green, and hub port." A more critical directive was to build it into a vital strategic pivot for connecting domestic and international dual circulations in northern China.
The dual positioning as a "hub" and a "pivot" entrusts the Port of Tianjin with the mission of linking internal and external markets and ensuring smooth circulation.
Strategic positioning sets the port's ambition, but realizing the blueprint depends on the port's inherent capabilities.
In the first quarter of this year, the Port of Tianjin handled 147 million tons of cargo throughput and 6.257 million TEUs of container throughput, representing year-on-year increases of 4.5% and 9.5%, respectively. For the full year 2025, container throughput exceeded 24 million TEUs. The port currently operates 151 shipping routes, connecting to over 500 ports in more than 180 countries and regions globally.
Where does this growth momentum originate? The answer lies at the forefront of the terminals.
At the C Section Intelligent Container Terminal in the North Port Area of Tianjin Port, artificial intelligence transport robots coordinate seamlessly with automated quay cranes and yard cranes, enabling fully automated operations throughout the process. As a "smart and zero-carbon" terminal, it achieves three 100% targets: 100% of terminal operations use electric power, 100% of that electricity comes from green energy sources, and 100% of that green energy is self-generated and self-sufficient.
The value of this self-innovation extends far beyond the port itself.
Guided by the development philosophy of "one port linking hundreds of industries, one port invigorating the entire city," the multiplier effect of the port economy continues to amplify, accelerating industrial agglomeration along the coastline.
As the main arena for port-industry-city integration, the Binhai New Area has now gathered 215 leading artificial intelligence enterprises, with its core industry scale exceeding 50 billion yuan. In 2025, the output value of five major coastal industries—green petrochemicals, marine engineering equipment, grain and oil processing, new energy, and aerospace—surpassed 500 billion yuan.
As a crucial economic functional zone within Tianjin's Binhai New Area, the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone focuses on four key directions: biomanufacturing, gene technology, green hydrogen energy, and the low-altitude economy. It has attracted over 30,000 enterprises, forming several hundred-billion-yuan industrial clusters in sectors like aerospace, high-end equipment, biomanufacturing, and marine equipment.
Port-city interaction is also fostering new business models. The cruise economy is recovering rapidly. Cultural tourism projects like "Impressions of Tianjin Port" transform port scenes into consumer experiences. The integration of culture, tourism, and commerce in the Dongjiang Comprehensive Bonded Zone is becoming a new link connecting the port with the city.
A port is not merely a hub for handling goods; it is a platform for resource allocation.
Tianjin's 15th Five-Year Plan proposals emphasize deepening government-level coordination and market-oriented cooperation between Tianjin and Hebei ports, enhancing the functionality of the sea passage from the Xiong'an New Area to the Port of Tianjin, and jointly building a world-class port cluster.
The Port of Tianjin is also strengthening linkages within the Beijing-Tianjin-Xiong'an innovation triangle. It coordinates sea-rail intermodal transport with locations like Beijing's Pinggu and Dahongmen and has achieved mutual recognition of customs supervision and information exchange with Beijing Customs, implementing regional customs clearance integration to reduce costs for enterprises. This fosters a development pattern for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei port cluster characterized by clear division of labor and collaborative support.
The chain reaction of "port driving logistics, logistics driving trade, trade driving industry, and industry driving the city" is accelerating in Tianjin.
The new quality productive forces emerging from the coastal areas, driven by the port economy, ultimately converge into a powerful wave propelling regional development.
In 2025, the regional GDP of the Binhai New Area reached 789.1 billion yuan. The proportion of output value from strategic emerging industries, high-tech manufacturing, and key industrial chains within the total output value of industries above a designated size increased significantly, sketching a growth curve centered on innovation-driven development and structural optimization.
From the canal transport era to the industrial era, each leap forward for Tianjin has stemmed from a keen grasp of opportunities presented by transformations in productive forces. As new quality productive forces become a key determinant of a city's future, this century-old major port once again stands at the forefront of the tide.
The tide surges at Tianjin's gateway; the transformation has arrived.
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