China: Shanghai partners with Europe and Australia ports for green shipping corridors

Shanghai caught much attention from global attendees with its endeavors to build more green shipping corridors with overseas partners at the opening of 2025 North Bund Forum, according to Xinhua Silk Road on Tuesday (21 October).

Currently, the green shipping corridors built together with several European and American ports are advancing intensive application of emission-reduction technologies and multiple-party participation to establish a testing field for global shipping industry transformation.

For instance, Shanghai port is co-founding a green Ro-Ro shipping corridor together with Port of Barcelona in Spain and Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium. Other Chinese ports are building similar green shipping corridors with German and French ports.

After a year-long operation, the Shanghai-Hamburg green shipping corridor unveiled in 2024, has forged ahead in sustainable development.

Apart from the regular shore power service, Shanghai port’s container berths can now refuel LNG and green methanol, while Hamburg port’s berths with 100 percent green shore power service plans to start methanol injection service this year, ready to co-craft an emission-reduction model for Eurasian shipping routes. 

Meanwhile, Port of Melbourne announced it has joined forces with Port of Shanghai, with an aim to establish a Green Shipping Corridor between the two ports. The agreement was formalised at the 2025 North Bund Forum in Shanghai, China, on 19 October.

This joint initiative, supported by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), brings together Port of Melbourne and Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC) in response to the Clydebank Declaration and the broader decarbonisation of the maritime supply chain.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the parties will seek to:

• Collaborate with industry partners – including Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), COSCO SHIPPING Lines, HAMR Energy, and ABEL Energy – to explore avenues to implement measures to reduce the environmental impact of the shipping industry.
• Focus on environmentally sustainable practices, such as the adoption of cleaner technologies, use of renewable energy sources, and implementation of best practices to minimise the ecological footprint of shipping activities.
• Work closely with shipping lines seeking to promote the adoption of clean fuels, with the goal of increasing the usage of clean-energy-powered ships operating between Shanghai and Melbourne.
• Explore opportunities with energy suppliers to accelerate breakthroughs in production technology, improve efficiency and cost control, and establish an integrated supply chain system covering production, transportation, and storage to boost low carbon fuel supply capacity.

Saul Cannon, Chief Executive Officer of Port of Melbourne, said: “This MoU is a significant development in our work towards decarbonising the supply chain. Given Australia’s position as an island-nation that heavily relies on sea freight, we have a key role in global efforts to decarbonise shipping.”

“As Australia’s largest container port working together with the world’s largest container port, we are well-placed to lead by example towards a greener future for our industry. We look forward to working with our industry partners to progress this initiative,” Mr Cannon added.

China is Port of Melbourne’s largest trading partner, accounting for 50 percent of total container imports and 20 percent of container exports. With the high volume of trade between both ports, this partnership has the potential to provide material benefits for the environment.

This milestone is a culmination of a nearly two-decade-long partnership between Port of Melbourne and SMTC, which commenced in 2006.

Photo credit: Port of Melbourne
Published: 22 October, 2025