The third and fourth quarters are normally peak seasons for Chinese ports, however, this year the busy season started in the first quarter, suggesting the nation's robust economic recovery is continuing, Euclid Infotech reported.

The scene at the ports this year is different from last year when China's foreign trade slumped as the global economic recession dragged the country' s economic growth down to a decade low of 6.1 percent.

In the first quarter this year, Qingdao Port recorded year-on-year 8.1 percent growth in throughput in the first quarter with 84.79 million tonnes. Container throughput was up 8.9 percent to 2.72 million TEUs.

That growth brought delight to Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal, whose three docks are for foreign trade by container -- but the brisk business conditions have brought their own challenges.

"In the first quarter of last year, foreign trade was quite slack. Most of the throughput was empty containers from imports," company official Guan Qian said.

Source: http://www.cargonewsasia.com