A view of Ningbo Zhoushan Port, the world's busiest port by cargo throughput volume, in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: zjhgwx]

The cargo throughput of Ningbo Zhoushan Port surged 15.1 percent year-on-year to 398.358 million metric tons in the first four months of this year, official data from Zhejiang provincial department of transportation shows.

Meanwhile, the port handled 10.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from January to April, a year-on-year increase of 25.6 percent.

In April alone, it handled 105.099 million tons of cargo and 2.713 million TEUs, up 9.8 percent and 26.8 percent respectively.

The strong results are primarily due to its operator's efforts in solving container shortage and expanding its logistics network.

The port imported a total of 2.41 million containers during the four-month period.

In April, it opened three near-sea shipping routes, increasing its total number of shipping routes to 269. In the same month, a new sea-rail freight route was also launched, bringing the total number of such routes to 20 and offering services to 56 prefecture-level cities nationwide.

The sea-rail combined transport model refers to a mechanism where goods are first loaded onto trains to Ningbo before being transported overseas by sea, and vice versa.

In addition, the port reported a double-digit growth in iron ore throughput from January to April.

There was also stable growth in the handling volume of bulk commodities including oil, coal and grains during the period.

The Ningbo Zhoushan Port handled more than 1.17 billion tons of cargo in 2020, up by more than 4 percent year-on-year and topping the global charts for the 12th straight year.

The port's container throughput hit 28.72 million TEUs last year, up over 4 percent year-on-year and ranking third globally.