Xiamen and Tianjin ports, the country's two international shipping centers, agree to boost cooperation in domestic-trade container business. [Photo/xmnn.cn]

The ports of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province and northern Tianjin announced that they will join hands to open more high-efficiency sea express lines linking the northern and southern parts of the country, according to a local news report on June 23.

They also said that they will work together to push forward the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and promote the integrated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

The two sides plan to boost cooperation in domestic-trade container business. At the signing ceremony, Tianjin Port Group joined the Silk Road Maritime Road project, which was launched by Fujian province in 2018 in Xiamen and has opened 60 routes as of June.

Statistics show that the container throughput of the two ports reached 603,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) last year, a 41.2 percent increase. Authorities said that business between the two ports sustained double-digit growth amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this year.

An array of favorable policies has been introduced by the two ports, aiming to increase service levels and better serve national strategies. The two sides also said that they will work together to upgrade the maritime transport artery linking the northern and southern parts of the country.