A bird's-eye view of a container ship berthing at Xiamen Port in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/WeChat account: touzixiamen]

Xiamen Port ranked 13th worldwide in terms of container throughput in 2021, setting a record high, according to an annual global port development report released by the Shanghai International Shipping Institute on April 6.

Xiamen Port achieved high-quality development in 2021, with its annual container throughput exceeding 12 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the first time, which surpassed the second largest port in Europe – the Port of Antwerp in Belgium – for the first time, according to officials from the Xiamen Port Authority.

Xiamen Port got involved in the container businesses in 1983 and has developed into Xiamen's highest ranking sector in the global economy.

Xiamen Port's container throughput exceeded 1 million TEUs for the first time in 2000. Since then, Xiamen Port's container business has entered a period of fast development and the container throughput exceeded 10 million TEUs in 2017, ranking 14th internationally.

To date, Xiamen Port is an international comprehensive transportation pivot with 161 container shipping routes, linking 143 ports in 53 countries and regions.

Xiamen Port Authority officials said that in order to boost high-quality development of the port, the port will continue to step up efforts to pilot comprehensive reform measures, optimize the port's functional layout, and integrate high-quality construction based on the Belt and Road Initiative.