CHINA Ocean Shipping (COSCO), the mainland's largest shipping company, carried 107.53 million tonnes of cargo last year, up 9.5 per cent on 1993.
With the addition of nine 3,800 twenty-foot equivalent unit (teu) vessels last year, COSCO now operates more than 140 container ships, with a combined capacity of 170,000 teus.
One of the largest shipping companies in the world, COSCO owns and operates about 600 vessels, aggregating 16 million dwt The carrier has enjoyed steady growth over the past few years.
Its liner service offers 384 sailings each month to more than 150 countries and regions, according to COSCO president Chen Zhongbiao.
China's main coastal ports handled more than five million teus last year, an increase of 31 per cent over 1993.
According to Ministry of Communications officials, the port of Shanghai handled about 1.12 million teus, up from 930,000 teus in 1993.
