THE Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' (CASS) statistic show that global container transport demand continues to rise this year with Chinese ports in the lead, Xinhua reports.

As world's economy recovers, global container transport demand will continue to rise this year, said CASS. But overcapacity still remains a severe problem and will cast shadow container shipping prospects.

The report makes a prediction on the world's top 20 container ports this year. Chinese ports will take up 11 places on the list. Among the top 10 ports, seven will come from China.

According to the report, ports in the Bohai Rim region will be the fastest growing in China. Tianjin and Qingdao's box volume increases are expected to reach 10 per cent. Dalian's will even hit 24 per cent growth while the rise in the Pearl River Delta ports will be slower. Hong Kong might even record decrease of somewhere from 2.4 to 3.3 per cent, said CASS.

Asia's container throughput increase will still be faster than the world's average. European and American port will only be able to manage a weak growth.

Wang Shouyang, a director from CASS, suggested that as China's status in the world's shipping industry is improving, and the country should shift its focus from enlarging ports to improving service and efficiency.