Beilun District

Beilun 北仑区
District
Clockwise from the top: Port of Ningbo, Yanshan Dyke, Zhonghe Road Station, China Port Museum, Chuanshan Wind Power Plant
Beilun District in Ningbo Municipality
Ningbo in China
Country	China
Province	Zhejiang
Prefecture	Ningbo
Area
• Total	599.03 km2 (231.29 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• Total	380,100
• Density	630/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	315800
Area code(s)	0574
Website	http://www.bl.gov.cn/

 Beilun District  (simplified Chinese: 北仑区; pinyin: Běilún Qū; Wu: Poh-len Chiu) is a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang province, China. It is dominated by Beilun port, an international port off the easternmost edge of the southern coast of Hangzhou Bay. It primarily services the regional city of Ningbo.

Originally a small fishing town, the presence of a deep sea lane with year-round minimum depth of 17 meters stretching along the coast of Beilun motivated the Chinese Government to build one of the nation's largest deep sea port here. The port is further protected from storms by the mountainous islets of Zhoushan just off the coast of Beilun.

14.31 billion yuan has already been invested in the Beilun port. With the completion of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge in 2008, Beilun is set to receive increased volumes of international freight and be more closely tied to the metropolis of Shanghai. It has been proposed that Beilun port be managed by the Shanghai port authority. That would have been a logical move given that Shanghai's own port and water lane - a mere 11 metres deep - can only accommodate container ships and freighters of 50,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT) or less. Swift and dangerous undersea currents in Shanghai contribute to an inefficient port that costs the city a great deal to keep open, and even then it is often only usable during high tide. Beilun is also home to a small free trade zone that has a concentration of manufacturers focused on vacuum formed packaging and an older plant that manufactured window air conditioners for Fedders.