A total of 219 ships from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member nations entered China through the Zhanjiang Port in the past eight months, up 6.5 percent year-on-year.

The number has increased for four consecutive years since 2014. Alongside were 4,485 staff members and passengers that entered the country aboard the ships, an increase of 10.2 percent year-on-year.

As a gateway for Guangdong to connect with ASEAN, Zhanjiang leverages its geological superiority and positions ASEAN as its top priority in the latest round of opening-up brought by the Belt & Road Initiative.

However, safety concerns have been highlighted with the increasingly frequent people-to-people, economic and trade exchanges between two sides. Located in Southeast Asia, the 10 member states of ASEAN feature year-round high temperatures and rains, and suffer from higher incidences of infectious disease.

Recently, dengue fever broke out in Southeast Asia along with a surge in infected cases. Confronted with the severe situation, Zhanjiang Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau rolled out a series of measures to tighten the quarantine and ensure national safety.

From January to August, the port examined about 40 suspect patients from ASEAN. No signs of infectious diseases have been found yet.