Hydrogen energy is an important direction for China’s energy transformation and industrial development. Port cities are key areas for China’s economic development and opening up to the outside world. Accelerating the transition to green and low-carbon energies and scaling up the development and utilization of hydrogen energy are crucial for promoting high-quality development of port cities in China. This study analyzes the foundation for developing hydrogen energy in port cities in China, and analyzes the development status, existing planning objectives, and problems. Based on this, the development directions of hydrogen energy in those regions are discussed. This research indicates that port cities in China have obvious regional advantages, rich hydrogen energy resources, prominent application scenarios, strong research and development abilities, and high talent concentration. Key hydrogen energy projects can be deployed and implemented through application scenarios such as ports, heavy trucks, and buses to build port cities into an international energy hub with advanced hydrogen energy technology, sufficient hydrogen energy supply, and complete industrial chain. Furthermore, we suggest that the port cities should actively cooperate with each other to build a healthy ecosystem, build an innovation system by making up for their weaknesses, promote scenario applications while insisting the safety first principle,and encourage technological innovation to stimulate development momentums.