Shanghai is expected to become the world's second largest port, after Singapore, by the end of next year, said Xinhua. It handled 125m tons of cargo in the first six months of 2002, an increase of 17 per cent year-onyear. Container traffic was up 31 per cent to 3.84m teu.
Throughput at Shenzhen rose 55 per cent year-on-year in August to a record 771,000 teu, compared with growth of just 4.5 per cent at Hong Kong's Kwai Chung port. Chiwan Container Terminals, Shenzhen's second largest operator, recorded a doubling of throughput to 110,000 teu. Growing exports from Guangdong to the US and Europe boosted traffic, as did the increasing tendency for manufacturers in southern China to export directly from the mainland rather than through Hong Kong.