A container ship anchors at Ningbo Zhoushan Port and waits to be unloaded. [Photo by YAO FENG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Ningbo Zhoushan Port in eastern China's Zhejiang province saw its cargo throughput rise 2.1 percent year-on-year to 845.6 million tons in the first three quarters of 2019, ranking first nationwide.

Meanwhile, the container throughput at the port reached 21.26 million standard containers in the January-September period, up 5.6 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics, ranking second worldwide after the Shanghai port.

Official data shows that from January to September, there were 27 ports in China which saw their cargo throughput exceed 100 million tons. Ningbo Zhoushan Port topped the list, followed by Shanghai port and Tangshan port.

Experts noted that the robust foreign trade in Ningbo and its surrounding areas played a prime role in maintaining the port's strong growth in container throughput, despite ongoing China-US trade frictions.

In the first three quarters of this year, Ningbo's import and export value stood at 681 billion yuan ($101.6 billion), up 6.8 percent year-on-year.

Xin Zhaohui, a staffer at Ningbo Zhoushan Port Ore Co, revealed that the country’s increasing demand for bulk commodities such as coal, crude oil and natural gas this year also fueled cargo throughput at the port.

Meanwhile, the port has been improving efficiency and tapping into the inland market to boost business this year in the face of unstable economic and trade conditions.

In 2018, the port reported an annual cargo throughput of over 1 billion tons for a second straight year, making it the only port in the world to exceed the 1-billion-tonne level. Its annual container throughput exceeded 26 million standard containers, ranking among the top three ports in the world.