In January 2009 total cargo throughput for the major ports along the Yangtze trunkline stood at 80m tons in, 5.7 per cent more than in the same period last year. Of this total, 9m tons was foreign trade related, up 1.2 per cent year-on-year. Container throughput reached 550,000 teu, up nearly 20 per cent.

Yangtze cargo throughput declined rapidly in the final third of 2008 as a result of the worldwide economic downturn. For November and December, cargo throughput decreased to the equivalent of 80-90 per cent of that of the same period in 2007, while growth in container throughput slowed down sharply from 20-30 per cent to around 15 per cent.

“All ports nationwide are affected by the economic downturn, but the Yangtze ports are withstanding the pressure better than the sea ports because of robust domestic trade,” said Mr Gu Qiangsheng, executive deputy general manager of Wuhan Port Group, the largest port operator in the middle reaches of the Yangtze. He predicted that, by June, throughput would rise to similar levels recorded in the first half of last year as the central government’s Rmb4,000bn stimulus package filters through the infrastructure projects in the interior and demand for bulk cargo such as cement and iron ore picks up again.