A large passenger ship departs from Changdao port on a voyage to Penglai, a county-level city in Yantai, East China's Shandong province on Feb 1. [Photo by Hao Guangliang/Chinanews.com]

The cargo throughput exceeded 35 million tons in January, 2018 at Yantai port in East China's Shandong province, up 10.69 percent year on year, according to statistics released by the Yantai Port and Shipping Administration Bureau.

The performance hailed a positive start for the port's development in 2018.

This year, the bureau sets the development goal of handling 412 million tons of cargoes and 2.75 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

To achieve this goal, the port is pushing forward the construction of several key projects, such as building itself into an international homeport for cruise liners.

As the Spring Festival approaches, the port is also stepping up safety checks and deploying 50 ro-ro passenger ships to ensure smooth water travel.