The fourth phase of Nansha Port will accelerate the development of Guangzhou and make Guangdong's provincial capital a major global shipping center, industry insiders said.

The port is projected to be completed and begin operations in 2021.

The fourth phase, which kicked off in December, will be built along a coastline of more than 1,460 meters long at the mouth of the Pearl River.

It will include four deep water container berths. Two of the berths will be able to handle 100,000-ton vessels and the other two will be for 50,000-ton vessels, said He Yeke, general manager of the Fourth Phase Construction Project of Nansha Port.

Twelve new piers are also part of the project, with each capable of stocking more than 3,000 metric tons of containers or cargoes.

The cost of the fourth phase in the project is expected to reach about 7 billion yuan ($1 billion), He said.

The official said a lot of advanced technologies and equipment will be introduced in the fourth phase to build a green and smart port, raise trade efficiency and reduce costs. The equipment will include the Beidou satellite navigation and positioning systems, artificial intelligence and unmanned intelligent guided vehicles.

"Once completed, the fourth phase will add a container throughput of more than 4.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), making the port one of the largest container ports in terms of single port area in the world," He said.

Nansha Port will play a major role in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and contribute to the Belt and Road Initiative in the years to come, he added.

Last year, the first, second and third phases of Nansha Port reached a container throughput of more than 15.57 million TEUs.

Nansha Port was built with many deep water berths, with the biggest one able to hold 200,000-ton vessels.

By the end of October, Nansha Port has opened a total of 104 foreign ocean container trade lines. They include 46 in Asia, 21 to Africa, 14 to Europe, 14 to the Middle East and nine to the Americas.

The construction of a new railway that will connect Nansha Port with the major national railway network will be completed and begin operations next year.

In 2018, ports in Guangzhou handled a total cargo throughput of more than 613 million metric tons and a container throughput of 21.92 million TEUs, ranking it fifth among global ports.