STATISTICS from the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China show that container volumes through Chinese ports have reached 67.4 million TEU in the period of January to March 2022, a year-on-year increase of 2.4 per cent.

According to the latest data, ports across the country also processed 3.63 billion tonnes of cargo in Q1 2022, an increase of 1.6 per cent compared to the same period the previous year.

Despite the city's recent lockdown, the Port of Shanghai remains the best-performing port in China, handling a total of 3.81 million TEU in March 2022, up 11.7 per cent compared to the same month last year. In Q1 2022, the port moved 8.16 million TEU.

China's second largest port - the Port of Ningbo Zhoushan - saw a 0.9 per cent decline in throughput last month, only processing 2.29 million TEU. This was most likely driven by newly implemented Covid-19 measures.

For the first quarter of the year, Ningbo moved 5.25 million TEU, up 1.1 per cent compared to Q1 2021.

The Port of Shenzhen saw one of the largest declines in throughput last month with container volumes falling 13.3 per cent to 1.82 million TEU. This was a direct result of the city going into lockdown on March 16.

Over the last three months, the port has handled 4.28 million TEU, a 10.9 per cent reduction compared to the same period in 2021, according to London's Port Technology International.