China's major seaports are expected to suffer a seven percent decline in container volume this year to 120 million TEU, according to Ministry of Transport estimates.

The prediction comes after the nation's box throughput decreased by 7.8 percent in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period last year (88.97 million TEU).

But the ministry said that China's container throughput at its major ports rose by 0.3 percent in September, representing the first year-on-year increase in 2009.

The ministry also expects a four percent increase for the whole of this year's cargo imports and exports through China's ports, up from a 4.2 percent decrease in the first nine months of 2009.

Tracey Jia