BEIJING, May 5 -- China's cargo and container throughputs at ports saw steady growth in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, official data shows.

The country's cargo throughput at ports totaled 4.09 billion tonnes during the period, up 6.1 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Specifically, foreign trade cargo throughput at these ports climbed 9.5 percent from the same period last year to about 1.31 billion tonnes.

In the same period, China's ports handled 76.73 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers, jumping 10 percent year on year.