Shanghai overtook Singapore as the world's busiest container port in April and Shenzhen displaced Hong Kong as the world's third busiest port in July.
Ma Yongzhi, a vice-director general of Shenzhen Port Administration, said the growth trend of Shenzhen's container throughput should continue for the rest of the year because international demand was still strong with the Christmas season coming.
Shanghai's container throughput rose 20.7 per cent to a record 2.64 million TEUs last month, according to Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), the Shanghai-listed operator of the port.
Shenzhen's container throughput in the same month rose 29.5 percent to 2.24 million TEUs, which is also the highest on record. The figure includes 1.06 million TEUs of exported laden containers and 858,166 empty containers.
In Jan-Aug 2010, Shenzhen's exports of laden containers rose 26.35 per cent, while empty container throughput grew 36.95 per cent. Cargo throughput climbed 19.9 per cent to 20.29 million tonnes.
The increase in container throughput in Shanghai and Shenzhen was "quite amazing", said JP Morgan analyst Karen Li said. "In May and June, there was the euro crisis and Chinese export orders and China's [purchasing manager's index] dropped. By now, we should see the impact, but the August data is very positive."
Meanwhile, Customs duties at Guangzhou have risen 41.4 per cent so far this year to a historic high of USS$4.45 billion, according to a government website.
A Customs official said the sharp rise in duties indicated a robust recovery in Guangdong's trade from the global financial crisis. In the first eight months of the year, the Customs recorded a 53.1 per cent surge in trade to $30.2 billion.