In the first three quarters, China's port foreign trade container throughput increased by 8.4 per cent.
On 29 October, the Ministry of Transport held its regular October press conference, outlining the economic performance of China's transport sector during the first three quarters.
Reporters learned at the press conference that during the first three quarters of this year, China's transport sector maintained its stable economic performance, accelerated the cultivation of new growth drivers, and demonstrated sustained resilience. The sector exhibited an overall stable development trajectory with steady progress, providing robust transport support for economic and social development.
During the first three quarters, China's ports handled 43.25 billion tonnes of commercial freight, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.89%. Within this, the third quarter saw a 3.9% year-on-year growth, accelerating by 0.9 percentage points compared to the second quarter. By mode of transport, rail, road, waterway, and civil aviation freight volumes reached 3.91 billion tonnes, 31.91 billion tonnes, 7.42 billion tonnes, and 7.4 million tonnes respectively in the first three quarters, representing year-on-year growth of 2.8%, 4.1%, 3.7%, and 14.0% respectively.
Additionally, China's port cargo throughput demonstrated robust growth, with foreign trade container throughput exhibiting strong resilience. During the first three quarters, China's port cargo throughput reached 13.57 billion tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. Container throughput amounted to 260 million TEUs, rising by 6.3% year-on-year, with domestic trade and foreign trade throughput increasing by 3.2% and 8.4% respectively.
At the press conference, Zhu Zhenyu, Deputy Director of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, also addressed questions regarding the Action Plan for Deepening the Integrated Development of Container Rail-Water Intermodal Transport through a ‘One Port, One Policy’ Approach (2025-2027).
He stated that the Ministry of Transport, in collaboration with the National Railway Administration and China State Railway Group, will advance container rail-water intermodal transport development through a ‘one port, one policy’ approach. Key initiatives include: promoting integrated infrastructure connectivity to accelerate hard connectivity improvements; promoting integrated coordination in intermodal operations to accelerate full-chain efficiency; advancing unified standards and rules to enhance soft connectivity integration; facilitating integrated data sharing to cultivate new growth drivers; and fostering coordinated market development to establish a unified national market.
He further emphasised that relevant provincial transport authorities, railway regulatory bureaus, and railway group companies shall jointly implement the action plan requirements. They will guide container rail-water intermodal port enterprises to take the lead in refining and improving their ‘one port, one strategy’ implementation plans, establish dynamic scheduling and supervision mechanisms, and ensure effective execution. The goal is to achieve an average annual growth rate of approximately 15% in container rail-water intermodal transport volume by 2027.