HANGZHOU, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's busiest port, the Port of Ningbo Zhoushan in the eastern province of Zhejiang, saw its annual container throughput surpass 28 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the first time on Monday.

That makes the port one of just three in the world to have exceeded an annual container throughput of 28 million TEUs. Singapore and China's Shanghai have accomplished the same feat, according to Ningbo Zhoushan Port Company Limited.

By the end of November, the Port of Ningbo Zhoushan had a total of 257 ship routes, hitting a record high.

The sea-rail transport service links the port by railway with parts of China and other countries. The port currently has 17 railway routes linking cities in 15 provincial-level regions across China.

Zhejiang's foreign trade grew rapidly this year, which partly contributed to the increase in the port's container throughput, said He Jie from Ningbo Zhoushan Port Company Limited.

In the first 11 months of this year, Zhejiang's imports and exports rose 10.3 percent year on year to 3.06 trillion yuan (about 467 billion U.S. dollars), customs data shows.

The Port of Ningbo Zhoushan saw cargo throughput exceed 1.1 billion tonnes in 2019, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years, according to official statistics.