BEIJING -- China has strengthened its leading position in the shipping industry, with freight transport capacity and loading volumes steadily rising, official figures showed Friday.

A report on the shipping industry released by the Ministry of Transport said freight turnover handled at China's ports exceeded 10 billion metric tons last year, an increase of 12.4 percent year-on-year, topping the global tally.

Shipping container turnover reached 164 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), up 11.4 percent from a year ago.

The number of berths for production at domestic ports increased 334 from a year earlier to 31,968, the report said.

Shipping fleets have also expanded. China had 179,200 transportation ships as of the end of last year, an increase of 0.5 percent year-on-year, the report said.

China's shipping industry is grappling with a recession caused by waning demand and higher costs, and many small businesses are facing bankruptcy, an official with the Ministry of Transport said at a press conference last week.

In the first six months, turnover at ports increased 7.2 percent year-on-year to 4.74 billion tons, 6.1 percentage points lower year-on-year.

A drop in domestic traffic was to blame, as China's economic growth dropped to a more than three-year low of 7.6 percent in the second quarter, said He Jianzhong, ministry spokesman.