Containers stockpiled at a port in Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: tzfb001]

Taizhou in East China's Zhejiang province handled 170,300 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first quarter of this year, according to Taizhou Customs.

The figure represented an uptick of 31.59 percent on a yearly basis, the highest among coastal cities in Zhejiang.

Over the same period, the city saw its cargo throughput volume expand by 10.18 percent year-on-year to 14.73 million metric tons.

The robust growth in both its container and cargo throughput volume can be primarily attributed to concerted efforts made by local authorities to upgrade ports, optimize logistics services and expand shipping networks.

The Taizhou-Japan shipping route, for example, has operated four times since its inception on March 13. The route, which operates biweekly, starts from Taizhou's Damaiyu port and passes by Ningbo, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo before ending in Yokohama.

It is the second direct shipping route from Taizhou to Japan, a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member state.

Its opening has become a major boon for companies in Taizhou, whose exports to Japan accounted for more than 20 percent of its total trade volume of 55 billion yuan ($7.96 billion) with RCEP member countries in 2022, according to Taizhou Customs.

Further growth in Taizhou's seaborne transportation volume is likely in light of its fast-growing investment in water transport projects.

In the first three months of this year, Taizhou's investments in that regard totaled 517 million yuan, which represented a yearly uptick of 143 percent and accounted for 33.7 percent of the annual target set by the local government for 2023.