Containers stockpiled at an inland river port in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

The container throughout of inland ports in Huzhou amounted to 517,300 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in the first three quarters of this year, up 21.4 percent year-on-year, statistics from the Huzhou municipal port and navigation management center show.

The city is ranked first in East China's Zhejiang province in terms of container volume handled by inland ports.

Its practices, such as encouraging enterprises to transport goods by water instead of road, and by container ships instead of bulk ships, as well as easing container shortage by strengthening cooperation with sea ports such as Shanghai Port and Ningbo Zhouhan Port, have bolstered growth.

The shift from transporting containers by road to water can save more than 10 percent of logistics costs, according to Shan Weijun, president of Huzhou Shanggang International Port Services Co Ltd.

The increased transportation requirements from surrounding cities in southern Anhui and southern Jiangsu have also fueled Huzhou's uptick in container throughput volume.

Huzhou's water transport logistics network is presently connected to over 50 countries.

Optimized shipping services have also played a part in raising the container throughout in the city.

From January to September, 5,460 administrative examination and approval applications involving ships and crew were handled in Huzhou, official data show.

During the same period, 95 million yuan ($14.6 million) in loans was issued to promote green shipping in the city.

This year, Huzhou's container throughput volume is forecasted to top 680,000 TEUs.