Zhangjiagang port claims to have beaten its full-year cargo throughput target in the first 11 months of this year. The port had aimed to handle 135m tonnes of cargo in 2009, but total throughput stood at 136m tonnes between January and November, up 20 per cent year-on-year.

Out of the total, there was a 31 per cent rise in international cargo to 35.9m tons and an 8.3 per cent increase in container throughput to 786,000 teu.

The city government attributed the increase to a series of expansionist measures that included dredging new channels in the eastern part of the port and installing new anchorages to meet an increasing number of foreign trade vessels calling there. Lloyd’s List reported that Customs have also speeded up cargo examination procedures and improved the reporting mechanism for dangerous goods in the port.