On April 4, the vessel "Aileen" successfully docked at the container terminal of Qianwan Port Area, marking the inaugural voyage of Maersk's newly launched Southeast Asia route at Shandong Port's Qingdao Port. This addition strengthens the port's shipping layout toward Southeast Asia. Currently, Qingdao Port operates over 50 Southeast Asia routes, ranking first among northern Chinese ports in terms of route numbers. It has established a high-frequency service system covering major ASEAN ports, providing solid support for the stability and smooth operation of regional industrial and supply chains.

The new route primarily operates on a regular weekly schedule, deploying six vessels with a capacity of 2,500 TEUs each. It offers sufficient space and stable schedules, efficiently connecting core ports in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other countries. This service not only meets the import demand for specialty agricultural products and raw materials from Southeast Asia in Shandong and surrounding markets but also paves a "maritime expressway" for accelerating exports of Chinese-made products such as chemicals and electromechanical goods, promoting higher-quality and faster two-way trade.

For years, China and ASEAN have been important global trade partners with increasingly close economic ties. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, trade between China and ASEAN reached 1.24 trillion yuan in the first two months of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 20.3%. As the world's fourth-largest port and China's second-largest foreign trade port, Qingdao Port has continued to densify its Southeast Asia route network with support from port regulatory authorities such as Huangdao Customs and Qianwan Maritime Safety Administration. By deeply integrating its hub capacity into China-ASEAN economic and trade development, the port has effectively reduced logistics costs for foreign trade enterprises and enhanced supply chain efficiency, providing robust maritime support for high-level opening-up and the high-quality co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.