Ningbo says it's decade's fastest growing big port with boxes up 780pc

NINGBO Port Group CEO Li Linghong has told Xinhua that his port's container throughput has rocketed 780 per cent in the past 10 years - making it the greatest annual growth rate of the world's top 30 ports.

Mr Li said Ningbo went from 1.86 million TEU in 2002 to 14.51 million TEU in 2011, 7.8 times of that in 2002, becoming the sixth largest in the world. Overall tonnage grew from 154 million tonnes in 2002 to 433 million tonnes in 2011, 2.8 times of that in 2002, making it the fifth largest port in the world.

The Port of Ningbo has an asset value of CNY50 billion (US$7.92 billion). With CNY42.2 billion invested over the past 10 years, the port has built a number of new facilities, including a container terminal that can accommodate 18,000-TEU ships and a 450,000-tonne crude oil terminal. The port now has a capacity of 9.17 million TEU in terms of container, 9.7 times of that in 2002, and 384 million tonnes in terms of tonnage, 3.3 times of that in 2002.