Since Shanghai putting the second phase of its Yangshan Deep-Water Port into operation on Sunday, the facility's capacity has been boosted by two-thirds and the city's status as a major international shipping hub has been solidified.
The new facility is able to handle 2.1 million 20-foot containers a year, equipped with four super-large berths, allowing it to serve some of the biggest ships on the seas, according to port operators.
Yangshan's first phase, which was put into use on December 10, 2005, has handled three million TEUs so far.
The second phase features a comprehensive information technology system to guide the movement of cargo containers.
Officials noted the third phase of the project will finish construction by 2010, adding seven new berths.
The city's ports handled 19.78 million cargo containers in the first 11 months of the year, up 19.7 percent from a year earlier, the port bureau said yesterday. Despite the strong growth, Shanghai is expected to remain behind Singapore and Hong Kong in container traffic this year.
The entire Yangshan project, located on an island south of the city in the East China Sea, is set to be completed by 2012. It will eventually have an annual capacity of 15 million containers and 30 berths.