The ports of Los Angeles and Guangzhou, China, will cooperate on the development of digital supply chain infrastructure, creation of a new green shipping corridor and other sustainability initiatives, port officials announced Tuesday.
“We are grateful to the Port of Guangzhou for their commitment to work with us on these important maritime initiatives,” Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of L.A., said in a statement. “The agreement signed today further reinforces our long-term relationship and like-minded pursuit of excellence in all aspects of port operations, and signifies an important step toward decarbonizing the supply chain.”
The agreement represents continued cooperation between the two ports, a relationship that dates back nearly four decades to their first “Friendship Port” agreement in 1984.
Tuesday’s three-year agreement calls for best practice consultations and exchanging of ideas on supply chain efficiency and digital technology, and the sharing of lessons learned from the Port Optimizer, the revolutionary digital community system developed by the Port of Los Angeles and in use since 2017.
“We have long valued our relationship with the Port of Los Angeles, and welcome this opportunity to build upon our bilateral cooperation,” Xiuqing Sun, director general of the Guangzhou Port Authority, said in a statement. “By continuing to share best practices and information, our ports will be better positioned to improve operational efficiencies and reduce harmful emissions related to those operations.”
The two ports also agreed to begin work to establish a green shipping corridor, an initiative focused on reducing emissions along their respective trade routes and promoting low- and zero-carbon ships and fuels.
The Port of Los Angeles has already established green shipping corridor partnerships with the ports of Singapore and Shanghai, as well as the Japanese ports of Nagoya, Yokohama and Tokyo.
Other environmental initiatives in the agreement include cooperation on testing and deployment of zero-emission vehicles, cargo handling equipment and vessels. The agreement also lays out a plan for exploration of energy use and alternative energy sources.