Annual Report 2021

ANNUAL REPORT 2021 7 It is with great delight that I present China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (the “ Company ”) and its subsidiaries’ (the “ Group ”) 2021 annual report and its audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2021. In 2021, the global economy, especially the economic situation of major economies showed a keynote of overall recovery thanks to the accelerated vaccination process, easing monetary policy and continued proactive fiscal policy. However, the repeated spread of the epidemic and the orientation of various countries’ anti-epidemic policies have led to a divergence in the economic recovery in different countries, together with uncertainties such as inflation, unstable supply chains, complications in geopolitical issues and exchange rate fluctuations, which have imposed challenges to the daily operation and management of enterprises. Amid the complex external environment, the Group firmly adhered to the strategic principle of “leveraging on its long-term strategy, tapping the current edges, driving through technology and embracing changes” and proactively coped with the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic. The Group also actively carried out various major tasks and further enhanced its core competitiveness in aspects such as the construction of homebase ports, overseas business, comprehensive development, innovative development, capital operation, operation management and marketing and commerce, thereby accomplishing its established strategic goals and successfully completing various operational objectives of the year. In 2021, the overall operation of the Group was satisfactory with the steady growth of the business. In terms of ports operation, the global port projects invested by the Group delivered a container throughput of 135.04 million TEUs during the year, up 12.0% over the year of 2020. In respect of the development of homebase port, the Group continuously developed its West Shenzhen homebase port to become a world-class leading port and improved the intelligence level of the port, and at the same time extended the coordinated port model in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (“ Greater Bay Area ”) to the Pearl River Delta area. In term of overseas business, the Group seized the opportunity of global trade restructuring and actively expanded business cooperation with shipping companies at its homebase port in Sri Lanka to promote the growth of business volume. As for comprehensive development, the Group continued to develop the comprehensive development model of “Port- Park-City”, with steady growth in the number of companies located in the industrial parks of the Group’s ports in Djibouti and Sri Lanka. In connection with innovative development, the Group promoted the construction of the “CM Chip” platform, the “CM ePort” platform and the “Smart Operation Management” platform, improved relevant implementation plans, enhanced the level of industrial digitalisation and continued to promote the construction of the Mawan Smart Port. In respect of capital operation, the Group continued to promote the dual-wheel drive model of “asset management + capital operation” and promoted the transformation and upgrading of existing terminals and the extension of the industrial chain to further enhance the Company’s influence. Regarding operation management, the Group continued to