HAIKOU, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Container throughput at Yangpu Port, the largest cargo port in Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), reached 3.31 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2025, up more than 65 percent from a year earlier, local authorities said.

Foreign trade cargo accounted for 1.09 million TEUs, more than double the volume recorded in 2024, according to the Transportation, Port and Waterway Bureau of Yangpu Economic Development Zone in Danzhou City, south China's Hainan Province.

Officials attributed the surge to accelerated port infrastructure upgrades, expanded shipping routes, and streamlined services under policies linked to the Hainan FTP, the world's largest FTP by area.

Yangpu has opened 65 container shipping routes, including 35 international services, gradually forming a network connecting global markets.

Looking ahead, the port plans to increase shipping frequency to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and strengthen support for post-based industries and Hainan FTP's broader opening-up drive, said Wu Xiongyue, an official with the bureau.

On Dec. 18 last year, China launched island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan FTP, allowing freer entry of overseas goods, expanding zero-tariff coverage, and introducing more business-friendly measures. The move is widely seen as a landmark in China's efforts to promote free trade and expand high-standard opening-up amid rising protectionism worldwide. ■