A view of Ningbo Zhoushan Port in East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/Ningbo Evening News]

Ningbo Zhoushan Port was ranked first in the 2021 rankings for global ports in terms of cargo throughput, according to a report recently released by the Shanghai International Shipping Institute (SISI).

The port handled 1.22 billion metric tons of cargo in 2021, up 4.4 percent year-on-year and topping the global rankings for the 13th straight year.

It was followed by Shanghai Port and Tangshan Port, which had cargo throughput volumes of 769.7 million tons and 722.4 million tons respectively.

Eight of the top 10 ports are in China. Among the top 50 ports, China (including Hong Kong) took 28 spots, while the rest are located in 11 countries including the United States, Brazil, South Korea and Australia.

In 2021, the cargo throughput of the world's top 50 ports totaled 16.47 billion tons, an increase of 4.2 percent compared with 2020, according to the SISI report.

Notably, Jiangyin Port in East China's Jiangsu province reported a whopping year-on-year growth of 36.6 percent which propelled its ranking from 25th to 16th in the world.

The stable growth in cargo throughput at most Chinese ports over the past year can be attributed to factors including the country's enormous economic scale, its advanced industrial manufacturing sector as well as the effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.