China home to eight of world's top 10 ports by cargo throughput

China was home to eight of the world's top 10 ports by cargo throughput in 2025, a transport official said on Tuesday.

Last year, China's port cargo throughput reached 18.3 billion tonnes, the country's container throughput stood at 354 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), and the scale of Chinese-owned shipping fleet reached 490 million deadweight tonnes, all ranking first globally, said Li Xinghu, vice minister of transport, at a press conference.

On average, Chinese ports handled over 50 million tonnes of cargo and about 970,000 TEUs of containers each day in 2025, with about 98,200 ship arrivals and departures recorded daily, including 1,236 by ships engaged in international voyages, said Li.

China's waterway freight turnover reached nearly 15 trillion tonne-kilometers in 2025, accounting for more than half of the country's comprehensive transport system.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China added 469 berths capable of handling vessels of 10,000 tonnes or above, bringing the total number of such berths to 3,061. The country also added 2,500 kilometers of high-grade waterways, bringing the total to 18,500 kilometers.

As of 2025, China had put 60 automated terminals into operation nationwide, including 30 automated container terminals, Li said.