Cargo throughput at Chongqing airport increased considerably in the first quarter of 2011, according to local Customs data. The number of batches of imports and exports climbed 80 per cent year-on-year to 8,960, and their value rose 236 per cent to US$571m.

The upturn was attributed to an increase in the number of night-time and chartered airplanes for cargo. The emergence of Chongqing as a major computer production base has been an additional factor.