LIANYUNGANG port handled 500,000 TEU from the start of the year through August 24, an increase of 70 per cent compared to the same period the previous year, making it the 10th busiest container port in China.

Efforts by port authorities to attract more domestic and international shipping companies to the port appear to be paying off as the result exceeds the total number of containers handled by the port in 2004, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Five new international services, which separately make port calls in the Mediterranean, US west coast, North America, Japan and Southeast Asia were added this year, along with domestic services to Xiamen and Fuzhou, the report said.