The volume of freight handled by south China's Shenzhen Port surged 27 percent in the first four months of this year, reaching 32.77 million tons, the port authority announced here recently.

Of the total amount, the freight volume for imports and exports totaled 19 million tons, up 32 percent, and the volume of container transport soared 43 percent to 2.9 million TEUs, said Zhou Tianlin, director of the navigation section under the port administration bureau.

Shenzhen Port and neighboring Yantian, Chiwan and Shekou ports play an increasingly important role in container transport. In the first four months, the volume of container transport increased by 34.14 percent at Yantian, 34.66 percent at Chiwan and 75.18 percent at Shekou.

Since the Iraq war, Shenzhen has adjusted its shipping routes and opened eight new routes to the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Basing on its current growth rate, Zhou estimated the cargo handling capacity of Shenzhen Port will top 100 million tons by the end of this year. The volume of container transport is expected to reach nine million TEUs by the end of this year.