???????QINGDAO -- The Qingdao Port in east China's Shandong Province -- one of the most comprehensive ports in the world and an important hub for international trade and transportation in the West Pacific -- saw the opening of its first new shipping route to Mexico on Sunday, increasing the number of its international shipping routes opened so far this year to a total of five.

The route to Mexico operates weekly with eight cargo ships, each with a capacity of over 4,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).
The route reaches three major ports on the west coast of Mexico, including Ensenada Port, in just 20 days.
Besides the route to Mexico, Qingdao Port has also opened four other international container shipping routes including those leading to East America, Europe and Southeast Asia. 
The container throughput of Qingdao Port in the first quarter of this year went up 11.3 percent year on year.