The Silk Road Shipping platform launches 50 shipping routes and provides 1,625 ship services along the routes. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2019 annual conference for Silk Road Shipping was held in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province on Dec 19, according to local media reports.

The Silk Road Shipping was jointly initiated by Xiamen Port Holding Group, Fujian Provincial Communication Transportation Group, China COSCO Shipping Group, and dozens of other carriers and logistics service providers from home and abroad to serve trade among the Belt and Road Initiative economies.

Chen Zhiping, president of Xiamen Port Holding Group, delivered a report to the annual conference.

According to Chen, the platform launched 50 shipping routes by the end of November and provided 1,625 shipping services along these routes, handling a total of 1.4 million containers with a 10.4 percent increase year-on-year.

Chen added that a total of 1,770 journeys are expected to be operated by the end of this year when more than 1.5 million containers will have been delivered.

The platform's rapid business development is mainly attributed to its improved services and efficient promotion, Chen added.

Moreover, the ports of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian and Xiamen respectively opened four and 10 foreign trade routes this year, which boosted the rapid growth of the international transit business in Xiamen.

The Silk Road Shipping Alliance was established at the conference, which involves more than 100 port shipping logistics companies from China and abroad.

The alliance published its fourth group of routes -- including two in Fuzhou Port and eight in Xiamen Port -- and extended its reach from Southeast Asia to Europe and Africa, officials said.