The Phase IV project of Nansha Port Area in Guangzhou Port adopts a new technical scheme for an automated container terminal，which is greatly different from other automatic container terminals in terms of automatic operation mode，loading and unloading operations，selection of horizontal transport equipment，characteristics of collection and distribution，and land area and coastline forms. In view of these，this paper considers the automatic operation process，equipment operation characteristics and traffic organization scheme of the new technical scheme，and analyzes related factors in the general layout of various functional areas in the land area，such as the frontier operation area of the terminal，automatic container yard，maintenance and testing area，office area and gate area. Furthermore，the paper summarizes the key points of the general layout，such as the functional area composition and scale requirements of the technical route of the automated container terminal.