China’s ports handled a record 18.3bn tonnes of cargo and 354m TEU in 2025, keeping the country at the top of global cargo and container port rankings, according to China’s Ministry of Transport.
Vice-Minister of Transport Li Xinghu set out the figures at a State Council Information Office briefing in Beijing on 30 June.
The scale of the volumes underlines China’s central role in seaborne trade. Its ports handled more than 50m tonnes of cargo and about 970,000 TEU per day last year, while the country accounted for about one-third of global maritime cargo transport.
The fleet owned by Chinese shipping companies reached 490m dwt, the largest in the world. China was home to eight of the world’s top 10 ports by cargo throughput and six of the top 10 container ports. Li said the figures reflected growth in China’s water transport sector during the 14th Five-Year Plan period from 2021 to 2025, as infrastructure, transport capacity and operational efficiency improved.
Chinese ports recorded an average of 98,200 vessel arrivals and departures per day in 2025, including 1,236 international voyages.
The inland shipping fleet also moved to larger tonnage. The average inland vessel size reached 1,982 tonnes, up 37.4% from 2020.
Rail-water intermodal transport handled 13.49m TEU in 2025, nearly double the 2020 level.
China’s Ministry of Transport is the central government authority responsible for national transport policy, including water transport, port development and maritime administration.