China's major ports handled over 23 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in May, up 4.2% from a year ago.

Chinese state media, citing the Ministry of Transport, said in May, the cargo throughput of major ports monitored reached 1.03 billion tons, an average daily increase of 3.2% compared with April.

The container throughput of the Shanghai Port stood at 3.41 million TEUs in May, posting an average daily increase of 7% month-on-month, Xinhua said, adding that "this indicates stronger recovery momentum for one of the country's largest container ports."

"China has intensified efforts to coordinate epidemic control with waterway transportation and production, especially in areas such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," it said.

Measures taken include ensuring round-the-clock operations at key ports, coordinating and unclogging waterway transportation, and promoting non-contact means with the help of technology.

Logistics "getting back up on speed"

In a separate report, China Daily said logistics in China have gradually gotten moving again and the country aims to tackle bottlenecks and support economic development amid the latest Covid-19 outbreaks.

"The ministry has resolved a number of problems such as shut tolls and service areas on expressways, and blocked roads hindering the transportation of supplies to rural areas," the report added, quoting Li Huaqiang, deputy director of the ministry's transport department.

Compared with April 18, it noted that truck traffic on expressways was 10.9% higher on May 24. Freight volume on railways and roads increased by 9.2% and 12.6% respectively, both recovering to about 90% of their normal level.

"In the past week, China's postal and parcel delivery sector handled as much business as it handled during the same period last year," the report added, noting that China's major logistics and transport hubs have also gradually resumed operation.

China Daily said the daily throughput of containers Shanghai Port handled has recovered to more than 95% of the normal level.

It added that in the past week, daily cargo traffic handled at Shanghai Pudong International Airport also recovered to "about 80%" of the volume before the outbreak.

Daily cargo throughput at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has also recovered to its normal level.