The volume of cargo shipped directly between Xiamen in Fujian Province and Kaohsiung in Taiwan hit a record high of 95,321 TEUs of containers during the first quarter this year, a 28.3 percent rise on a yearly basis. This volume accounted for 76.5 percent of the total cargo transported directly between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. The Xiamen port handled 243,957 TEUs of containers during the first quarter of the year, up 30.2 percent over the 1999 figure. Xiamen has now opened nine overseas routes linked to Europe, America, Japan, Singapore, and the ROK, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan.
