Shanghai increased its lead as the world’s largest general cargo port in 2009, with volumes up 1.3 per cent to 590m tons, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. Singapore, in second place, experienced an overall volume decline of 8.5 per cent to 471.5m tons, according to its own figures.

Shanghai was still behind Singapore in terms of container traffic, with a 10 per cent fall in 2009 throughput to 25m teu. Container traffic in Singapore last year fell 13.5 per cent to 25.9m teu.

Twenty Chinese ports each recorded a cargo throughput of more than 100m dwt in 2009, according to the Ministry of Transport. Four new ports joined the list last year: Jiangyin in Jiangsu province, Xiamen in Fujian province, Zhanjiang in Guangdong province and Huzhou in Zhejiang province. Jiangyin, on the Yangtze River, and Huzhou, on the Grand Canal, are both inland waterway ports.