Day 2 - Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd

After the visit to Yakult factory, we had our lunch before embarking on our journey to Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd, the company that my group was working on. Since it was the company my group was allocated, we were in-charge of asking questions. It was a rare sight to see the guys listening attentively to the speaker even though he was speaking very fast. The man was very thorough in his explanation about the port. We learned many things from him which heightened our understanding of FIT (Finance International Trade). Before, we were unable to grasp the concepts and see how it was related to our field of study. After the detailed explanation, we were better able to understand its importance.


Tianjin port even housed a mini museum within its building. The speaker was very knowledgeable and introduced Tianjin port to us. 

The entrance of Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd

The  countries which trades with Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd

The speaker introducing different cargo ships to us

 

Unknown artifact found along the Tianjin Port

The machines used to load nad unload cargoes

After which, the speaker brought us to view the model of Tianjin port and the company's actions to expand the Tianjin port.

Model of Tianjin port

A little background from our research and his presentation:
It was formally known as Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, parented by Tianjin Port (Group) and listed on the Shanghai stock exchange in 1996.

Tianjin port is the largest port in Northern China and main maritime gateway to Beijing. The port trades with more than 600 ports in 190 countries and territories around the world. It was part of the Binhai New Area district of Tianjin Municipality, a main special economic zone of Northern China, which lies directly east of TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development area). It was also the core of an ambitious development program and changes occur at a very accelerated pace in this area.

After which, we went to view Tianjin port and see how the cargoes where being loaded and unloaded. There, we continued to ask the speaker and James questions about the port. Since China is a big country, like Yakult factory, the shipments were allocated to respective ports around China, depending on their ultimate destination. Like cargoes for Shanghai would not unload at Tianjin port but straight to the port closest to Shanghai. As James used to work in PSA, we got to learn many things about both the Tianjin port and also PSA. He also shared with us his experiences when he was with PSA and the differences between PSA and Tianjin port.

Machines in action

There, we continued to ask the speaker and James questions about the port. Since China is a big country, like Yakult factory, the shipments were allocated to respective ports around China, depending on their ultimate destination. Like cargoes for Shanghai would not unload at Tianjin port but straight to the port closest to Shanghai. As James used to work in PSA, we got to learn many things about both the Tianjin port and also PSA. He also shared with us his experiences when he was with PSA and the differences between PSA and Tianjin port.

Overall, it was a very enriching experience and allowed us to make comparison to PSA. Since we have never been to any of the Singapore ports, it was truly a great exposure for us to see the daily operations of a port.