[photopress:shanghaiportbusy.jpg,full,alignright]Shanghai port should handle 530 million tons of cargo this year so it will remain the world’s biggest freight port. Last year the figure was 443 million. Singapore is expected to come in second.
Shanghai has always been one of the world’s major ports although in its early stages it was always thought of as a river port, rather than an ocean port. During the Qing Dynasty, Shanghai became an important regional port for the Yangtze and Huangpu rivers. But even so, it became the biggest port in China, and arguably the world, from very early times.
So, although Shanghai has only been established since the 16th century — taking the construction of the city walls from 1553 as a start date — it has always been, in one sense or another, one of the world’s most important ports. A position it retains to this day. Only, perhaps, more so.
Source: Shanghai Daily and research