In the future development, Guangzhou Port will take building a modern international port as the goal and harmonious development as the theme, earnestly do a good job in the construction of deep-water channels and large-scale professional berths, speed up the construction and upgrading of port collection and distribution systems, continue to optimize the port structure, and solidly promote the comprehensive, rapid and harmonious development of Guangzhou&;s port and navigation industry.
During the 11th Five-Year Plan period, Guangzhou Port plans to invest more than 20 billion yuan, set up 39 deep-water berths, and increase the handling capacity by 69.24 million tons and 6.04 million TEUs. By actively developing and constructing Nansha New Port Area, improving the conditions of sea lanes, and building a number of specialized berths for large containers, energy and raw materials, it is estimated that by 2010, the cargo throughput of Guangzhou Port will reach 400 million tons and the containers will reach 14 million TEUs, and it will become a trunk port for container transportation with major influence in the world, mainly for the transshipment of energy and raw materials, and a modern comprehensive main hub port.
According to 《泛珠江三角洲区域合作公路水路交通基础设施规划纲要》, by 2020, the inland water transport of the Pearl River Delta and Xijiang shipping trunk lines will be basically modernized, and a pan-Pearl River Delta waterway system with three or more waterways as the skeleton will be formed. According to the planning standards, the third-line channels for southwest water transport out of Hainan, China and North will be built, and the Minjiang River and Lancang River will be built accordingly, and the waterway support system and port functions will be improved. Basically, the inland container transportation system in the Pan-Pearl River Delta, the bulk cargo transportation system and the materials transportation system in the western region have been built, and the advantages of water transportation have been fully exerted.