SHENZHEN: Shenzhen Port handled 8.5227 million foreign-trade containers measured in TEUs in the first quarter of 2026, official customs data showed, as one of China’s biggest maritime gateways posted steady year-on-year growth at the start of the year. The quarter’s throughput was up 7.81% from a year earlier, lifting the southern port complex above the 8 million TEU mark for the period and reinforcing the scale of cargo flows moving through terminals tied to factories, traders and shipping companies across the Pearl River Delta.
The first-quarter total covers foreign-trade containers and provides a more precise update to earlier reports that said Shenzhen had exceeded 8 million TEUs in the January-to-March period. The latest figure follows a record 2025 for the port and keeps focus on a logistics hub that city officials said ranked fourth globally in container throughput last year. That standing reflects the scale of operations handled by Shenzhen’s terminals for exporters, importers and carriers serving southern China and a wide range of overseas markets.
Momentum toward the quarterly result had already been visible earlier in the year. Shenzhen’s western port zone handled 3.08 million foreign-trade TEUs in January and February, up 8.3% from a year earlier, according to customs data released in March. The broader port network has also continued to widen, with the latest official figures showing 281 global routes connecting Shenzhen with more than 300 ports in over 100 countries and regions, giving carriers extensive coverage across major trading lanes.
Route network expands as volumes rise
Shenzhen’s shipping links have expanded alongside cargo volumes. A city work report released in February said the port operated 273 international liner routes, while a year-end transport bureau release put the count at 279. The latest customs-linked update lists 281 routes, showing that route additions have continued into 2026. Together with the first-quarter throughput increase, the data point to a port system handling more containers while also broadening the number of direct maritime connections available to carriers and cargo owners.
The local performance has come against a backdrop of wider gains in China’s port sector. National transport data showed Chinese ports handled 58.77 million TEUs in January and February, up 9.8% from a year earlier, while foreign-trade container throughput rose 13.7% in the same period. Shenzhen’s first-quarter result places the city within that broader rise in cargo activity, while also highlighting the contribution of one of the country’s main export gateways to overall container traffic and seaborne trade flows.
Shenzhen retains global container standing
For Shenzhen, the latest number extends momentum from 2025, when officials said annual container throughput surpassed 35 million TEUs for the first time, rising by more than 5% to a record high. TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent unit, is the standard measure used in the shipping industry to count containers. By that metric, Shenzhen remains one of the most significant port clusters in global liner trade, supported by a route network that links the city to hundreds of overseas ports and major commercial markets.
The first-quarter figures add fresh detail to the operating picture for a port complex that sits at the center of trade flows tied to the industrial base of Shenzhen and the wider Guangdong region. With foreign-trade throughput at 8.5227 million TEUs and route coverage still expanding, the latest official data show Shenzhen starting 2026 with higher container volumes and a broad international shipping reach – By Content Syndication Services.