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Shanghai Port, one leading foreign trade port in China, reported a 10 percent increase in the average daily number of coming and leaving ships in the first nine months this year over the same period last year.

On average, 62 vessels were logged each day, which rose 16.7 percent than the average figure for the previous three years, according to statistics from Shanghai Customs.

Customs officers attributed the increase to the continuous growth in foreign trade following China's entry into the World Trade Organization late last year, rapid economic growth in Shanghai and in the Yangtze River valley, and further improvements in the port's functions and services.

Statistics show that Shanghai Customs levied 97.16 million yuan (11.7 million US dollars) in customs duties on foreign ships and Chinese ships rented by foreign businesses and Sino-foreign joint ventures that visited the Shanghai Port during the January-September period. The figure indicated a 25 percent year-on-year increase.

All of the world's top 20 container ship companies have established representative agencies in Shanghai and China's top three ocean shipping companies have moved their headquarters to the city.

Shanghai operates 16 international navigation routes, connecting the city with more than 500 ports in nearly 200 countries and regions.

Shanghai Port handled 5.26 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), carrying 34.38 million tons of cargo in the nine months to September. The two figures represented year-on-year increases of 31.2 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively.

Last year, Shanghai handled 6.34 million TEUs, the fifth highest volume in the world.