Containers at Ningbo Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: nbfb0574]

Ningbo Zhoushan Port handled 199 million metric tons of cargo in the first two months of this year, up 2.8 percent year-on-year.

The port's container throughput reached 5.25 million TEUs over the two-month period, edging up 1.1 percent year-on-year, official data from the Zhejiang Port and Shipping Management Center showed.

Due to the effective control of the COVID -19 epidemic in China, Ningbo's imports and exports registered an increase of 19.6 percent year-on-year from January to February. Its trade volume with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative grew by 22.4 percent.

To meet the soaring transportation demands, the port opened six shipping routes to places including Europe and South America, bringing the total number of its container routes to 292.

In addition, stable growth was seen in the business volume of the sea-rail combined transport mode, which refers to the mechanism where goods are first loaded onto trains to Ningbo before being transported overseas by sea, and vice versa. In February, containers transported via this mode hit 225,000 TEUs at the port, up 36.2 percent year-on-year.

The handling volume of iron ore and liquefied oil products at the port in the first two months of this year hit 25.77 million tons and 4.2 million tons, up 10.4 percent and 24.2 percent respectively.

Double-digit growth was also seen in the throughput of mining construction materials, food, and vehicles by "ro-ro" (roll-on/roll-off) ships over the two-month period.

Ningbo and Zhoushan, two cities in East China's Zhejiang province where the port is located, have reached a consensus in terms of pilotage, which is expected to help shipping companies save 4.2 million yuan ($646,153.8) per year.

Looking ahead, the port will step up port infrastructure construction and further optimize services.