BEIJING — Container throughput at China's major ports continued to enjoy upward momentum in early December as the country's economic activities gradually recovered from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, data from an industrial association showed.

From Dec 1 to 10, container throughput at China's eight key ports increased 3.1 percent year-on-year, with the growth rate at Shanghai and Shenzhen ports exceeding 10 percent, according to the China Ports and Harbours Association.

Specifically, the container throughput for foreign trade rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier during the same period, up 1 percentage point from that registered in the previous 10 days.

The boom in container throughput for foreign trade came amid the rapid expansion in China's exports as Chinese factories and companies regained growth momentum thanks to a slew of supportive policies and therefore received increasing orders from overseas markets.

The country saw its exports jump 21.1 percent year-on-year in November in US dollar terms, the fastest growth since February 2018.

Industrial production also revived with China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, growing 7 percent year-on-year in November, up from a rise of 6.9 percent in October.

Meanwhile, ports along the Yangtze River maintained rapid production growth thanks to the economic recovery in inland areas. The cargo throughput in Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing ports surged by 12.3 percent from a year earlier, the association said.