The cargo throughput of Shanghai port reached 560 million tonnes in 2007, ranking the first in the world for the third straight year, the Shanghai Port and Shipping Bureau said Monday.

The cargo volume grew by 4.2 percent from 2006. The throughput of TEUs (twenty-foot container equivalent units) at Shanghai port increased by 20.4 percent to reach 26.15 million, the bureau said.

The cargo throughput of Shanghai port reached 443 million tonnes in 2005, surpassing the Port of Singapore to become the largest in terms of cargo throughput.

The Shanghai port now has 42 TEU piers and routes to more than 300 ports worldwide.

The municipal government authorities have been striving to build the Shanghai port into an international shipping center.