AS of late December 2011, northeastern China's port of Dalian had handled six million TEU as full-year container throughput was expected to reach 6.4 million TEU, Xinhua reports.

From January to November last year, Dalian lifted a total of 5.78 million TEU, 21 per cent more than in the same period the year before.

Dalian newly launched seven container shipping lanes in 2011, raising the total to 92.76 foreign trade routes and 16 domestic ones.

Dalian's largest container berth with a depth of 17.8 metres started operation in 2011. The port can now handle ships of 150,000 tonnes.