NINGBO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Ningbo-Zhoushan port in east China's Zhejiang Province saw its cargo throughput grow 11.3 percent year on year to 515 million tonnes, still the world's busiest, in the first half of 2017.
It handled 120 million tonnes of iron ore, 55 million tonnes of crude oil and 40 million tonnes of coal, the port operator said Wednesday.
The port handled 12.4 million standard containers, up 14.6 percent year on year.
It stepped up cooperation with neighboring ports in Zhejiang to increase the container throughput.
During the period, the port deepened cooperation with major shipping companies and countries along the Maritime Silk Road. It added three sea routes to raise its total to 236.
It also launched sea-rail transport services linking with inland cities of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province and Zhumadian in Henan Province.
Currently, its sea-rail transport services link 11 Chinese cities, helping drive its container handling volume up 82.2 percent to 182,000 standard containers in the first six months of this year.
