Ningbo-Zhoushan Port reaches 40m TEUs 22 days earlier

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port surpassed 40 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in annual container throughput on Nov 10, reaching the milestone for a second consecutive year, 22 days earlier than in 2025.

The achievement reflects the port's expanding inland connections, increasingly diverse shipping routes, and gains in operational efficiency amid global trade disruptions.

Its port's inland network continues to expand. In July, an export freight train carrying about 1,700 metric tons of goods traveled 4,910 kilometers from Aksu in Xinjiang to Beilun Port Railway Station in Ningbo, providing the region with a direct route to the sea. The port now operates 115 sea-rail intermodal routes covering 71 cities in 16 provinces, with traffic exceeding 1.8 million TEUs this year. 

The port is also developing alternative shipping corridors. The China-Europe Arctic Express completed eight voyages during this year's navigation season, carrying energy storage equipment, power batteries, and solar panels to Europe in about 20 days, nearly half the time required by the traditional Suez Canal route.

Its shipping network now spans more than 310 container routes connecting over 700 ports in more than 200 countries and regions.

Operational improvements have also helped sustain growth. At Meishan terminal, automated checkpoints, remotely operated cranes, and more than 130 intelligent container trucks streamline cargo handling. By September, container ships' non-operating time had fallen to 70 minutes, 34 minutes below the 2025 average.