Tianjin has been ranked 20th among global shipping centers and 6th among mainland Chinese ports in the newly released Xinhua-Baltic Exchange International Shipping Center Development Index.

The Index is based on factors such as port conditions, shipping services and integrated environment.

The Tianjin port, which was ranked 30th in 2018, has made progress in all these areas during the past two years.

The coordinated regional development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster has also played a role in the port’s progress.

The northern Chinese port saw its container throughput surpass 16 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) in 2018, accounting for 79 percent of the total container throughput in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. In 2019, throughput reached 17.3 million TEUs, accounting for 81 percent of the region’s total.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic this year, the port’s cargo throughput in H1 rose 1.7 percent year-on-year to 208 million tonnes, while container throughput surpassed 8.57 million TEUs, up 2.9 percent year-on-year, according to the Tianjin Port (Group) Co., Ltd.

The overall customs clearance time for exports and imports at Tianjin Port has been ranked 1st and 2nd respectively among the country’s major shipping ports. Tianjin Port also leads in national leasing, with total leasing assets of over one trillion yuan. Among these assets, aircraft, ships, and offshore leasing units account for more than 70 percent of the national total, making it the second largest aircraft leasing cluster in the world after Ireland.