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China has seven ports able to handle more than 100 million tons of cargo annually, said sources with the Ministry of Communications here on Feb.12.

Shanghai is leader of the seven ports, followed by Ningbo, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Dalian, Qinhuangdao, and Qingdao.

Last year, the Shanghai Port handled 260 million tons of goods,which is close to that of Singapore, the second largest port in the world.

Among the world's top ten container ports, Shanghai and Shenzhen are ranked fourth and sixth for handling over 8 million and 7.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) last year, respectively.

To date, Shanghai Port, the country's largest, has established shipping relations with over 400 ports around the world, serving as the gateway to the world for the vast areas of China's hinterland.

Shenzhen Port in south China's Guangdong Province has seen the fastest growth in the past year, taking the second place among China's container ports for six successive years.

Currently, over 90 percent of China's foreign trade and half of the country's domestic transportation go through the ports. The number of containers handled by the Chinese ports has maintained an annual growth rate of 30 percent over the past decade.

The number of containers handled by the Chinese ports amounted to 37 million TEUs in 2002, 31.4 times more than the figure for 1989.

So far, the Chinese government has invested more than 100 billion yuan on the nationwide ports and the inland waters.

Statistics show that China's ports now have 33,450 productive berths nationwide, including 822 berths for ships above 10,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT).