Shanghai is world's busiest container port

Shanghai overtook Singapore as  the world's busiest container port in 2010, helped by  continuing growth in Chinese trade and the business generated  by the World Expo it hosted last year, the city government said. 

Shanghai's port handled 29.05 million twenty-foot  equivalent units (TEUs) in 2010, the municipal government said  in a statement on its website, citing a work meeting on  turning Shanghai into a global shipping centre. 

That compared with the 28.4 million TEUs handled by the  Port of Singapore in 2010, which was up 9.9 percent from 2009,  according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. 

Shanghai's cargo throughput rose to around 650 million  tonnes in 2010, maintaining its top global spot, according to  the statement. 

China's State Council, or cabinet, has set an aim of  making Shanghai a leading shipping centre by 2020 -- the same  year by which the government hopes the city will become a  global financial centre. 

Shanghai will continue with a pilot project for export tax  rebates, potentially expanding it, and is looking into  developing shipping-price derivatives and an index on shipping  prices, the city government said. 

Shanghai's port is operated by Shanghai International Port  (Group) Co .

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