ZPMC chairman Zhu Lianyu speaks at the company's Smart Terminal Solution Forum 2020 in Shanghai on November 11. Photo: Courtesy of ZPMC

As COVID-19 continues to spread across the world, it has profoundly disrupted not just trade volumes, but port operations. However, for Chinese port equipment maker Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC), the difficulties also present an opportunity to push for automation at ports around the world.

Last week, while global companies were wrapping up business deals at the third China International Import Expo (CIIE), ZPMC, one of the world's biggest producers of port equipment, convened a summit to highlight the need to upgrade ports at home and abroad with artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies to cope with the rising number of new challenges.

"At the moment, global supply chains have been impacted by the epidemic and some ports have seen declining throughput, which leads to cuts in investment by some customers. However, globally, investments in the automation of ports have not decreased," Zhu Lianyu, chairman of ZPMC, told the Global Times in an interview.

Domestically, the company has inked deals with several ports for port upgrade projects and smart port equipment purchases, including the Port of Tianjin and the Port of Qinzhou in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The project in Qinzhou aims to build China's first smart port linking sea and land transportation network systems.

Globally, ZPMC has also received orders for automated smart port equipment from companies in Canada, South Korea and South Africa, according to Zhu.

However, the company's overseas orders have been shrinking as a result of new orders being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and declining global trade, Zhu said. "This pressure on demand might be lifted as the pandemic improves, but this is the difficulty we face this year and next year."

In particular, ZPMC's sales in the US dropped to $20 million this year, compared with $320 million in 2019, according to Zhu. But he stressed that the declining sales are not a result of the company losing its share of the US market, but rather the decline in the overall market due to COVID-19.

While the company remains "upbeat" about its cooperation with US companies, "the overall situation" between the two countries poses some "difficulties and challenges," Zhu said. "Although ZPMC is the world's largest supplier of port equipment and services, we have some European competitors who may take advantage of such opportunities to mount competition with us in various ways," Zhu said, referring to the US' recent crackdown on Chinese companies.

Under President Donald Trump, the US has imposed various restrictions and sanctions on hundreds more Chinese companies, including industry leaders. 

The US was the second biggest market for ZPMC, with many US ports on both the west and east coasts using the Chinese company's equipment. "We have built a very good working relationship and friendship with these US ports, one of the reasons being the reliability of our equipment," Zhu said, adding that the company will continue focusing on improving its products and services, despite the uncertainties and challenges.