Aerial photo taken on March 2, 2022 shows a view of the container terminal of Qinzhou Port in southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's container throughput at ports maintained expansion in the first half of the year, data from the Ministry of Transport showed.

READ MORE: Policies inject momentum into South China ports

During the January-June period, the container handling volume at China's ports rose 3 percent from one year earlier to 140 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), according to the ministry.

Cargo throughput at the country's ports reached 7.58 billion tons in the same period, down 0.8 percent year on year, the data showed.

The ministry attributed the slight decline to a decrease in imports of coal, crude oil, and iron ore, among other commodities.  

ALSO READ: Report: China to have nine of world's top 20 container ports