TIANJIN -- The Tianjin Container Freight Index (TCI), an indicator of northern China's international container freight rates, stood at 527.69 points on Tuesday, down 0.18 percent compared with the previous working day.

The statistical samples of TCI cover 19 international shipping routes departing from the port of Tianjin to ports in Europe, the Mediterranean, America, Asia and the Persian Gulf.

As a sub-index of the Tianjin Shipping Index, TCI is published on working days and was first published in September 2010. It is issued by the Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Service Center in northern China's Tianjin Municipality.