A view of Dongping Port in Tai'an, East China's Shandong province. Dongping Port is an important hub along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. [Photo/VCG]

The Dongping Port in Tai'an, East China's Shandong province, has entered trial operation, opening a waterway link from the city to the outside world and providing an economical means to transport bulk cargo from Tai'an to China's southern cities.

The waterway has greatly reduced freight costs, said Meng Guangjin, general manager of a local agricultural fertilizer production company Ruixing Group.

A batch of fertilizer produced by the group was loaded at Dongping Port on Feb 3 before it was shipped to Huai'an,?East China's Jiangsu province.

"Transporting these goods to Huai'an by highway is very expensive. With the waterway, we can expect to save more than 30 million yuan ($4.59 million)?in freight spending annually," said Meng.

Dongping Port is an important hub along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, an ancient water conservancy project.

Its opening has provided a more convenient channel for Tai'an, cities in southwest Shandong and northwest Shandong as well as Hebei province to transport goods to China's southern cities. It will also promote exchanges and cooperation with cities in Yangtze River Delt region.

A batch of urea packages wait to be unloaded for shipping at Dongping Port on March 3. [Photo/VCG]

A photo taken on March 3 shows Dongping Port in Tai'an. [Photo/VCG]