China's eight major container ports reported a volume increase of 20.5% at end-January comapred to the year-ago level, according to data from the China Ports and Harbors Association. 

 

 

Export container volumes also rose 19.8%, as local container volume expanded at a higher rate of 23.4% year-on-year. 

 

The figure lumps volume growth rates in major Chinese gateways like Port of Shanghai — the world's busiest container port in 2020 — Port of Tianjin, the largest port in Northern China and the main maritime gateway to Beijing, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Xiamen, Guangzhou and Shenzhen which all recorded expansion above 20%. 

 

The double-digit growth rate reflects in part a sharp slump seen at end-January 2020 which was impacted by the onset of coronavirus-related lockdowns in China.

 

Meanwhile, cargo throughput at major coastal ports in China recorded a 12.2% rise and international cargo volume also rose by 7.2%.

 

For the same late January period, cargo throughput at the ports of Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing — three major Yangtze river gateways — was up 40.1%, with the port of Chongqing, the biggest river port in the southwest of China, recording a growth rate of over 100%. Container volume at the three ports rose by 17.4%.

 

For the whole January, container volume at the eight major ports in China expanded by 9.6% year-on-year as cargo throughput from major coastal ports rose 4.6%.