Nansha port area of Guangzhou port. [Wei Wei for China Daily]

Guangzhou's international maritime trade activities date back 2,000 years, and it is the only Chinese port that has never been shut to international trade.

Guangzhou Port formed its first sister-port relationship in 1982 with the Port of Baltimore in the United States. By 2015, Guangzhou had established 21 sister-port relationships, with that number nearly doubling in the past two years, and it has also opened liaison offices in the US and Europe.

"We plan to propose an 'international harbor city alliance', aimed at sharing development opportunities with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative," Yuan said, adding that companies have benefited from the expansion of its "international friends circle".

Guangzhou Port formed a sister-port relationship with Turkey's Port of Izmir in 2016.