THE number of ports with a throughput tonnage of over 100 million tonnes has risen to 26 last year from 2010's 22, according to the Ministry of Transportation, reports Xinhua.

Among the 17 seaports and nine river ports, Ningbo-Zhoushan ranks at the top 694 million tonnes throughput. The Yangtze River Delta has 11 ports on the list, the most of all regions.

Chongqing and Beibu Gulf Port from the western region are also on the list. Huanghua, another major port for coal transportation after Qinhuangdao, for the first time handled more than 100 million tonnes last year.

Three of the four new members on the list, Taizhou, Chongqing, Jiaxing, are river ports. The flourishing development of river ports in China is brought by China's plan to boost domestic demand and the supportive policies. Last year, the Ministry of Transportation decided to spend CNY45 billion (US$7.14 billion) on river shipping during the five years from 2011, 170 per cent more than in the previous five years.

In 2006, China has 12 ports of 100 million tonnes. In 2009, the number had increased to 20. But as China's economic growth slows down, throughput growth will become steady. Analysis shows that this year, China's port throughput will be growing at about 10 per cent, 2.4 per cent down from 2011's 12.4 per cent.