A container ship from Japan is seen at the container dock of Shanghai's Yangshan Port in east China, April 27, 2022. About 25,000 staff members stick to their posts in Shanghai port to guarantee water transportation and improve logistics efficiency amid challenges caused by the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in Shanghai.(Photo: Xinhua)

Shanghai is speeding up logistics resumption, as the turnover of highway, water, aviation and rail has almost returned to normal levels before a severe COVID-19 outbreak hit the city about two months ago, according to an official from the Ministry of Transport on Monday.

The average daily container throughput of Shanghai Port since June has recovered to more than 95 percent of the same period in 2021, and cargo turnover at Pudong airport has returned to the normal level, said Cai Tuanjie, head of transportation services at the Ministry of Transport.

Cai said the 104 expressway toll stations and 24 expressway service areas in Shanghai are open, and freight traffic on expressways has returned to the levels seen before the recent outbreak. 

Shanghai Port has maintained normal operations 24 hours a day, he added, noting that since June, the average daily throughput of containers has reached 126,000 standard containers, a 95 percent recovery on the same period in 2021. On June 18, the port reached a maximum of 142,500 TEUs in a day, setting a new high since the latest outbreak started.

With container throughput exceeding 47 million TEUs in 2021, Shanghai Port has ranked the world's busiest for 12 consecutive years, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

In terms of air traffic, Shanghai Pudong International Airport had an average of 232 take-offs and landings per day in the past week, with inbound and outbound daily cargo volume hitting 9,267 tons, basically returning to normal levels. Cargo throughput exceeded 10,000 tons on June 18.

Rail freight transportation in the city has also been operating normally, and the China-EU freight trains have resumed weekly departures, he added.

Next, the ministry will accelerate the full resumption of logistics and transportation in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region and provide strong logistics support for the economy, Cai said.

From June 1, Shanghai started phased resumption of normal production and life order, and aviation companies have also actively accelerated the resumption of work.

China Southern Airlines told the Global Times that it transported two of the world's most advanced temperature-controlled containers, carrying medicines from Shanghai Pudong to Chicago on Thursday. 

On June 2, China Southern transported 94 tons of goods from Shanghai to Chicago, showing that all cargo services on international routes in Shanghai are in full operation, 

China Eastern Airlines told the Global Times that it transported 4,215 tons of goods from June 1 to 5, a growth of nearly four times month-on-month. 

Li Qiang, secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said on Saturday at the 12th CPC Shanghai Congress that since 2020, at its peak Shanghai shouldered 62 percent of the country's inbound flights, 53 percent of inbound air passengers and 46 percent of imported cold-chain goods.