How China’s top 2 container ports became the world’s busiest – and beat Singapore The nation’s ports claimed six of the top 10 busiest worldwide, according to a prominent data provider China’s Yangtze River Delta is now home to the world’s two busiest container ports, a milestone that one industry analyst said reflects the continued resilience of the country’s export sector and the tech-driven efficiency of its maritime hubs. The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in eastern China’s Zhejiang province overtook the Port of Singapore to become the world’s second-busiest container port in the first half of 2026, according to France-based shipping data provider Alphaliner. During the period, Ningbo-Zhoushan handled 22.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) – a standard measure for cargo container volume – compared with Singapore’s 22.74 million TEU. Shanghai, which has held the top spot for years, saw 28.7 million TEU flow through its berths. The two Chinese ports sit less than 100km (62.1 miles) apart. Qu Ke, a transport analyst at CCB International in Hong Kong, said the strength of Chinese ports had been propelled by efficiency gains and the large-scale adoption of smart technologies. “Autonomous trucks, cranes and automatic loading and unloading are becoming a usual sight at Chinese ports, leading to better safety and efficiency,” Qu said. “This is also supported by sound infrastructure, including roads and railways, for seamless, intermodal logistics to continuously feed containers to these ports.”