Chongming, China

Position in regional infrastructure

Chongming is a large island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, administratively part of Shanghai Municipality, at coordinates 31.619883°N, 121.395203°E. For submarine cable infrastructure, Chongming is one of the principal mainland Chinese trans-Pacific landing sites, complementing other Chinese cable hubs such as Lantau Island (Hong Kong area), Shantou, Qingdao, and Tseung Kwan O. The Chongming landing serves the Shanghai metropolitan internet exchange — China's largest commercial data hub — providing direct submarine fibre connectivity to Japan, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, and the wider East Asia-Pacific cable mesh.

The location's geographic position at the Yangtze River mouth provides direct East China Sea access for cables routing eastward to Japan and trans-Pacific destinations. Multiple major cables converge at Chongming, making it both a critical national infrastructure asset for Chinese internet sovereignty and a documented chokepoint for Chinese trans-Pacific traffic.

Submarine cables landing in Chongming

APCN-2 (Asia Pacific Cable Network 2) is a 19,000 km submarine cable in service since 2001, owned by a 22-member consortium including AT&T, BT, NTT, KDDI, Telstra, KT, LG Uplus, Tata Communications, Verizon, and others. From Chongming it reaches other Chinese landings (Lantau Island, Shantou), Japan (Chikura, Kitaibaraki), Malaysia (Cherating), Philippines (Batangas), Singapore (Katong), South Korea (Busan), Taiwan (Tanshui).

Trans-Pacific Express (TPE) Cable System is a 17,968 km submarine cable in service since 2008, owned by AT&T, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, KT, NTT, and Verizon. From Chongming it reaches Qingdao (China), Maruyama (Japan), Geoje (South Korea), Tanshui (Taiwan), and Nedonna Beach (Oregon, USA). TPE provides one of the principal direct Chinese trans-Pacific routes to the US west coast.

New Cross Pacific (NCP) Cable System is a 13,618 km submarine cable in service since 2018, owned by China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, KT, Microsoft, and Softbank. From Chongming it reaches Lingang and Nanhui (other Shanghai-area landings), Maruyama (Japan), Busan (South Korea), Toucheng (Taiwan), and Pacific City (Oregon, USA).

Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) is a 10,400 km submarine cable in service since 2016, owned by a 13-member consortium including Meta, NTT, KT and Chinese state operators. From Chongming it reaches Nanhui and Tseung Kwan O (China), Maruyama and Shima (Japan), Cherating (Malaysia), Changi South (Singapore), Busan (South Korea), Toucheng (Taiwan), Songkhla (Thailand), and Danang (Vietnam).

Connection topology and redundancy

Chongming's four major cables provide strong trans-Pacific redundancy for Chinese international traffic. Multiple paths exist to the United States (TPE via Oregon Nedonna Beach, NCP via Oregon Pacific City), to Japan (TPE, NCP, APG, APCN-2 via Chikura/Kitaibaraki), to South Korea (TPE, NCP, APG, APCN-2 via Busan), and to Taiwan (TPE, NCP, APG, APCN-2 via Tanshui or Toucheng). The owner mix combines US carriers (AT&T, Verizon), Chinese state operators (China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom), Japanese carriers (NTT, KDDI, Softbank), Korean operators, US hyperscalers (Meta, Microsoft), and others.

The structural risk concentrates at Chongming itself as a single landing zone — a major incident at the beach manholes here would affect Chinese trans-Pacific traffic on all four cables simultaneously. The mitigation is the presence of other Shanghai-area landings (Lingang, Nanhui) that host parallel cable terminations for some of the same systems (notably NCP), providing landing-end diversity within the broader Shanghai cable cluster.

Geography and coordinates

The Chongming submarine cable landing sits at 31.619883°N, 121.395203°E (31°37'12"N, 121°23'43"E), on Chongming Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, administratively part of Shanghai Municipality. The East China Sea access provides direct cable approach corridors eastward without intervening Chinese coastal shadowing.

Frequently asked questions

What submarine cables land at Chongming, China?

Four major submarine cables land at Chongming: APCN-2 (RFS 2001), TPE (2008), NCP (2018), and APG (2016).

What are the coordinates of the Chongming cable landing?

Chongming cable landing is at 31.619883°N, 121.395203°E (31°37'12"N, 121°23'43"E), on Chongming Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, Shanghai Municipality, China.

Which countries connect to China through Chongming?

Through Chongming's cables, China reaches the United States (US west coast Oregon), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, and other parts of mainland China and Hong Kong.

When was the first submarine cable laid at Chongming?

The earliest in-service Chongming landing in the GeoCables dataset is APCN-2, in service since 2001. TPE followed in 2008, APG in 2016, and NCP in 2018.

Who operates the cables landing at Chongming?

Chongming's cables are operated by Chinese state operators (China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom), US carriers (AT&T, Verizon), Japanese operators (NTT, KDDI, Softbank), Korean operators (KT, LG Uplus), Taiwan (Chunghwa Telecom), and US hyperscalers (Meta, Microsoft) through multi-operator consortia.