5m containers moved through Taicang port in 2018

Taicang port in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, has handled more than five million containers this year, according to local media reports on Dec 24.

The record high number of containers moved, 13,700 containers each day over the past year, puts the port into first place in Jiangsu and 10th position in China.

Zhou Naixiang, Party secretary of Suzhou, extended warm congratulations on the port's great achievements, which took just 25 years.

Taicang port has now grown into the largest along the Yangtze River in foreign trade.

The port operates 200 routes, including 25 foreign trade routes reaching 23 ports in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other countries and regions.

It welcomes more than 700,000 passengers and 120,000 international ships carrying over 200 million tons of cargos each year and more than 4,000 foreign trade companies in China select Taicang port to deliver their goods.

Moreover, the port is also qualified to import fruits, meat and edible aquatic animals.

Taicang port will be constructed into a pivotal port combining river and ocean transportation and a water transport distribution center along the Yangtze River in the next few years, according to a spokesman for its management committee.

The prosperous port has also developed its surrounding area, which has become the second largest container manufacturing base worldwide and the largest senior lubricating oil production base in Asia.

Seventeen Fortune 500 companies and 18 State-owned companies have settled down in the port area with a total investment of 59 billion yuan ($8.6 billion).

In 2018, Taicang port area is expected to generate 32.6 billion yuan.