China Becomes World Biggest Container ProducerChina has become the world biggest container producer, with its output sharing 70 percent of the world's total.Figures released by an international shipping research organization show that China produced 1.06 million TEUs last year, compared with the world gross output of 1.35 million TEUs. The production of southeastern Asian countries and West European countries in 1999 reached 132,000 TEUs and 96,000 TEUs respectively. Industry analysts say that the significant increase of China's container production resulted from the rapid development of China' s container shipping over the past two decades. China's container shipping industry has kept a 30-percent growth in business annually since the early 1990s, partly attributable to the country's rapid development in foreign trade. The country now has more than 150 shipping companies dealing with container transport, which are equipped with more than 600 ships and 300,000 TEUs. In addition, China's ports are now open to more than 140 sea routes, with over 2,500 voyages available each month. |
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