CHINA's Hainan free trade port recently saw the launch of its first inter-continental shipping service at Xiaochantan terminal, Yangpu port.

The newly launched Yangpu-South Pacific-Australia shipping route, connecting ports in China, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia, provides a direct shipping service for the trade of coconuts, beef, minerals, logs and consumer products between China and South Pacific-Australia, reports Colchester's Seatrade Maritime News.

The service is provided by Cosco Shipping Lines, deploying two 1,740 TEU box ships on a bi-weekly schedule.

The opening of this new service is a breakthrough for Hainan on intercontinental shipping route operation and marked the beginning of an international container hub port development of Yangpu.

Xiaochantan terminal posted 497,000 TEU container throughput during the period of January and August this year, an increase of 66 per cent year on year with the foreign trade container volume amounting to 118,000 TEU, a huge surge of 432 per cent compared to the same period last year.