NORTH CHINA's Tianjin port has built 17 dry ports so far along the Yellow iver basin to serve the exporters in hinterland, marking the Harbour-Yellow River shipping co-operation a highlight of the country's regional economic co-operation, reports Xinhua.

Provinces along the Yellow River can boost the trade with the outside by means of custom and port operational mode.

Tianjin port's throughput reached 450 million tonnes last year, ranking the fourth place in the world, while its container throughput stood at 11.5 million TEU. The port expected to handle 560 million tonnes of cargo and move 18 million TEU by 2015.

The port-river co-operation has had some good results. The Yellow River's import and export trade value reached US$375.5 billion, while most of trade cargo contributed for Tianjin port, says Ms Li Wengling, deputy director of Tianjin's Port Service Office.

At present, Tianjin port's direct economic coverage for hinterland reaches five million square kilometres. Tianjin has 70 per cent of its cargo throughput and over 50 per cent of its trade value coming from other outside provinces and areas.