THE Port of Tianjin, the major maritime gateway to inland Beijing, posted a throughput of 11.5 million TEU and an overall volume of 450 million tonnes, breaking port records in each category, Xinhua reports.

Tianjin Port Group chairman Yu Rumin said the group aims to become one of the world's top 500 enterprises in 15 years.

Last year, Tianjin port offered 13 new container shipping services. The port's monthly box throughput surpassed one million TEU, boosting its handling efficiency to a new record. In addition, the number of the port's sea-rail intermodal services to inland regions had increased to 15, said the report.

Tianjin invested CNY13.5 billion (US$2.1 billion) on fixed assets in 2011 and finished the reclamation of the 30 square-kilometre Dongjiang port area, also completing phase 2 of the Dongjiang Bonded Port Area.