The 400,000-ton Pacific Warrior unloads cargo at Shulanghu terminal. The vessel is the 10th 400,000-ton ship received by the terminal this year. [Photo by Yaofeng Zhang Xudong for zhoushan.cn]

The throughput of the Shulanghu ore transfer terminal at Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang province increased 24.5 percent year-on-year in January, the largest since it started operations in 2016, local media reported.

Statistics show that the terminal has since the start of the year received 28 international ships and reached a cargo throughput of 11.9 million metric tons, including 5.97 million tons of iron ore.

Liu Xiongbo from Zhoushan Shulanghu Terminal Co Ltd said that the large increase in the terminal's cargo throughput is mainly attributed to the better business environment.

Since last July, the Zhoushan shipping and port bureau, Zhoushan Customs, as well as four other local port authorities have been cooperating in streamlining clearance processes, and this has resulted in customs clearance time for bulk cargo being reduced by 70 percent.

Authorities have also prioritized customs clearance for iron ore to further improve the throughput capacity of Shulanghu terminal.