Ningbo-Zhoushan port in east China's Zhejiang Province is on track for becoming the third busiest port in the world after stepping up its cooperation with neighboring ports in Zhejiang to increase its container throughput and reach 12.4 million TEU, up 14.6% year on year, according to Xinhua.
The changes have had a dramatic impact as container throughput figures were recently bolstered to 27.2% in May, allowing the port to reach 2.295 million TEUs for the month and creating growth that could see Ningbo-Zhoushan handle more cargo than Shenzhen.
According to data from the World Shipping Council, Ningbo-Zhoushan had a TEU of 20.63 million in 2015, with Shenzhen at 24.20 million TEU over the same period.
During the first half of 2017, Ningbo-Zhoushan deepened cooperation with major shipping companies and countries along the Maritime Silk Road. It also added three sea routes to raise its total to 236.
Sea-rail transport services were also launched to link the inland cities of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province and Zhumadian in Henan Province.
Currently, Ningbo-Zhoushan's sea-rail transport services link 11 Chinese cities, helping drive its container handling volume up 82.2% to 182,000 standard containers in the first six months of this year.
The world’s fourth largest port also saw its cargo throughput grow 11.3% year on year to 515 million tons in the first half of 2017.
This included 120 million tons of iron ore, 55 million tons of crude oil and 40 million tons of coal.
Technical Paper: China’s One Belt One Road
Image: Shanghai Yangshan deepwater port, the largest port in the world with 36.54 million TEU in 2015
