Qingdao in East China's Shandong province has climbed to 12th place in the 2026 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development Index, surpassing Houston in the United States and maintaining its position as the top-ranked port city in northern China.

The city's steady rise follows its historic breakthrough in 2025 when it overtook Tokyo and Busan, South Korea, for the first time, moving from 15th to 13th.

The index, jointly compiled by China Economic Information Service and Baltic Exchange in 2014, evaluates 43 global shipping centers in three areas: port conditions, shipping services, and business environment. In the 2026 rankings, the top five cities are Singapore, Shanghai, London, Hong Kong, and Dubai, with Shanghai making history by leapfrogging London into second place.

Qingdao's upward momentum is driven by solid operational growth. In the first half of this year, the port handled 382.47 million metric tons of cargo, up 3.3 percent year-on-year, and 17.56 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, an increase of 7.2 percent.

In the first six months the port also added 15 new foreign trade routes, including nine connecting countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, bringing its total dynamic route network to 240. Three new international transshipment corridors have been established, and international transshipment volume grew 52.6 percent to 824 TEUs.

Infrastructure expansion continues at a steady clip. Four major port projects are now under construction, including the Dongjiakou port area berth projects and the Qianwan port area northern expansion. The Dongjiakou port area central railway, scheduled to get underway this December, is the only remaining project yet to break ground.

The index report highlights how competition among international shipping centers has expanded beyond port scale and route networks to include green transition capabilities, digital innovation, and global resource allocation capacity.

Asian shipping centers continue to demonstrate strong resilience, with emerging economies playing an increasingly vital role in enhancing global shipping resource allocation.

Qingdao secures its position as northern China's top shipping hub, climbing to 12th globally in the 2026 shipping center rankings. [Photo/Guanhai News]