China’s container shipping sector registered steadfast growth this year amid headwinds from the Covid-19 pandemic and container shortages. Cargo throughput at China’s ports totaled 12.87 billion metric tons in the first 10 months, up 7.8% year-on-year. Container throughput reached 235 million TEU, expanding by 8.4% from a year earlier. China’s foreign trade in the first 11 months surged 22% year-on-year to CNY35.39 trillion. The figure, already surpassing the CNY32.16 trillion total for all of 2020, marked a 24% increase from the pre-pandemic level in 2019.
Effective pandemic prevention and control measures adopted by the Chinese authorities contributed significantly to stabilizing industrial chains, thus boosting overseas shipping orders of Chinese companies. Chairman Wan Min of China COSCO Shipping Corp said the company handled around 22.45 million TEU of containers in the first 10 months, representing a year-on-year growth of 5.7%. When the container shortage hampered China’s container shipping industry, COSCO Shipping transported 13,469 empty containers back to domestic ports in March, alleviating the container shortage. The supply of new containers has also been boosted by container manufacturers accelerating production. In September, the monthly container production capacity in China surged from 200,000 TEU to a record high of 500,000 TEU. Favorable policies to facilitate cross-border trade and promote trade and investment in pilot free trade zones (FTZs) also boosted trade.
In Hainan province, an international maritime transport and trade hub is taking shape in Yangpu port, with favorable measures targeted at investment, administrative approvals and financial support for small and micro-sized firms attracting more and more foreign trade companies to the area, the China Daily reports.
