A view of Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province recently unveiled a five-year action plan to further promote its opening-up as part of efforts to accomplish its goal of becoming a modern coastal metropolis. 

According to the plan, the city will strive to become a global hub for shipping, resource distribution and trade, as well as a highland for the headquarters of multinational enterprises, high-end service industry clusters, and institutional innovation.

Specifically, authorities will strive to maintain the Ningbo Zhoushan Port's position as the world's top port in terms of cargo throughput volume and raise its global ranking in container throughput volume from third to second by 2026. 

By that time, the city's exports and imports are expected to be worth at least 1 trillion yuan ($142.86 billion) each, while the values of trade in services and digital trade are expected to surpass 500 billion yuan each. 

Authorities are also aiming to lift two-way investment to $40 billion during the five-year period.

In addition, efforts will be made to expand market entity scale. Such efforts will involve doubling the number of enterprises that have an annual foreign trade value of more than $10 million and trade enterprises with annual sales of more than 5 billion yuan when compared with 2021.