The automated container terminal is an inevitable trend for the future development of ports. Nevertheless，it is still exposed to various problems. For example，the high initial construction investment holds back the progress of some small enterprises towards automation，and a single technical route cannot meet the personalized customized service needs of automated container terminals. Moreover，the existing incumbent automation reconstruction technologies for traditional container terminals still demand breakthroughs. Within the context of building a leading transportation and maritime nation in recent years，this paper investigates the worldwide application of various modern technologies，such as automatic control，artificial intelligence，visual computing，and big data，takes industrialization，intelligence，going green，and industrial production as the general development direction for ports，and discusses the development status and trend of automated container terminals from the two aspects of the diversified plane overall layout and the upgrading of new loading and unloading equipment to meet the needs of rapid port construction and high-quality development of automated terminals in China and abroad and to provide references for the construction of projects in this field.