Increase in port activity portraying a positive trade picture

Cargo trucks are loaded with import goods at the Port of Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu province, Nov 5, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

Container throughput at major domestic ports has been on the upswing since March, indicating that foreign trade will keep growing in the months ahead and meet the government's targets this year, an industry expert said.

According to Chineseport.cn, container throughput at the nation's top 10 ports was up more than 7 percent year-on-year in April, after expanding 6.5 percent in March.

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The increase "sent a strong signal that China's foreign trade is still showing a good performance, despite growing worries that the world's second-largest economy is slowing down", said Xiao Feng, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Onetouch Business Service Co, a trade service provider.

Major consumer goods, such as electronic products, furniture and garments, are usually shipped in containers.

The increased volumes are "a true picture of China's current trade, which has benefited from a steady recovery in the United States and Europe and surging demand from the Asian market," Xiao said.

Container throughput at Ningbo, Zhejiang province, increased more than 20 percent year-on-year in April, while Shanghai, the country's largest port by capacity, saw a 6 percent increase last month, Chineseport.cn said.

The container volume figures stood in marked contrast to the trade slowdown in value terms. Total trade contracted 3.1 percent year-on-year to 8.1 trillion yuan ($1.29 trillion) in the first four months. In April alone, total trade slumped 1.3 percent year-on-year, following a 6.5 percent decline in March, according to the General Administration of Customs.

"The declines of the past few months mainly reflected a false base of comparison," Xiao said.