The container throughout of Anji Port, an inland port in Huzhou, soared 15 percent to 129,600 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) from January to May, according to Li Wei, assistant general manager of Anji Shanggang International Port Services Co Ltd, the port's operator. 

An increasing number of local foreign trade enterprises are choosing to ship goods by water as the efficiency of water transportation improves. A single container ship with a capacity of 64 TEUs can transport as many goods as 32 container trucks. Replacing trucks with ships could save export companies in Anji county 120 million yuan ($17.3 million) in logistics costs per year, according to Li. 

Now, thanks to closer relations between the Anji and Shanghai ports, goods loaded on container ships at Anji Port can be shipped overseas from Shanghai, and vice versa.

Since the onset of the epidemic at the beginning of this year, major domestic shipping companies have reduced freight space, leading to a shortage in containers for inland ports.

In a bid to solve this issue, the port's operator increased the supply of containers and rented an extra 19 ships to ensure the availability of water transport for local companies.

The company also reduced its freight charge by 150 to 200 yuan per container in February.

In Huzhou, inland ports handled a total of 196,300 containers in the first five months of this year, a 0.7 percent year-on-year increase.