Chinese state media reported that Shanghai Port has seen its container throughput recover to over 80% of normal capacity as the city steps up resumption of businesses after over two months of lockdown aimed to contain a Covid-19 outbreak in the area.

Xinhua said the container throughput of the port reached 110,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per day on Tuesday, while its normal handling volume was around 130,000 TEUs per day, citing data from the Shanghai International Port Group Co., Ltd. (SIPG).

It added that to tackle logistics bottlenecks caused by Covid-19, especially road congestion, the Shanghai Port has diversified transportation methods in cooperation with shipping companies and the railway department to stabilize supply and industrial chains in the Yangtze River Delta region.

In April, water transfer accounted for 65% of the port's total throughput, while the proportion of rail-sea intermodal transit also reached a "record high", the report said.

Over 80% throughput recovery

"The port completed a container throughput of over 3.08 million TEUs in April, recovering to 82.4 percent of that of the same month last year," said  Li Guoping, an official with the Ministry of Transport, according to Xinhua.

Despite the lockdown which began end-March, state media noted that during the first four months, the port handled 15.35 million TEUs, up 1.8% year on year.

The report added that for nearly two months, more than 20,000 employees have been working in the Shanghai Port under closed-loop management to maintain its daily operation.

"The overall operation at all container terminals of the port has remained stable, with the support of an intelligent remote control system that enables the handling of a container to be completed in two minutes on average," Xinhua further said.

The Shanghai Port had in advance expanded the container yard to 600,000 square meters, and more sockets for cold-chain containers were installed, it added.

"With enterprises speeding up the resumption of work and production while keeping with epidemic prevention and control, the port throughput will continue to recover," said Zhou Yong, a staff member of the production and business department of SIPG, according to Xinhua.

Shanghai Port has ranked as the world's busiest port for 12 consecutive years with its container throughput exceeding 47 million TEUs in 2021.