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

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.

"With Nansha Port Area (which belongs to Guangzhou Port) opening a direct maritime route with Turkey, it now takes less than a month to export products there, halving transport costs. It saves transport time, which means lower cost and higher operational efficiency, allowing Chinese products to be more competitive in the international market," said Charles Zhao, general manager of the emerging market division at Homa Appliance Co, a local manufacturer of refrigerators and freezers.

In 2016, Homa exported 5.42 million fridges, ranking top of China's refrigerator exports for the eighth consecutive year.

"Ninety percent of Homa's products are exported from Nansha Port Area, and are shipped to more than 100 countries and regions, so the port is crucial for our company," Zhao said.

Guangzhou Port is one of the busiest seaports in the world. In 2016, the port processed 544 million metric tons of cargo and 18.86 million containers, ranking sixth and seventh in the world respectively.