In 2011 the Suzhou terminal of Taicang on the Yangtze River handled 45,000 TEU of containers in shipping services to and from Taiwan, an increase of 29.4 per cent on the previous year.

Since it launched cross-strait direct shipping in December 2008, Taicang has handled 709 vessels on such services. It has become the Yangtze’s largest terminal for mainland-Taiwan shipping and it offers priority and simplified 24-hour customs clearance for the shipping lines on this route.