China saw its ports report "record" growth in cargo throughput for January amid the country's steady economic recovery, according to state media, citing data from the Ministry of Transport.

In a report, Xinhua said cargo throughput at Chinese ports came in at 1.3 billion tonnes in January, posting a 0.6% marginal increase year on year.

Last month, container handling volume at China's ports also expanded by 1.6% from a year ago to 24.16 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Meanwhile, a separate report said freight volume totaled 679.58 million tonnes last month, up 3.9% from a year ago.

It said the southernmost province of Hainan saw the biggest increase in waterway freight volume, up 34% year on year.

State media also said China's road freight volumes fell year on year in January recording  freight volume totaled 2.93 billion tonnes last month, down 5.5% from a year ago.

Bucking the overall trend, the northeastern province of Liaoning recorded the biggest increase in road freight volume, up 40.5% year on year, it said.