Trial direct shipping between Taiwan and Fujian provinces amounted to 1,609 in 2000, delivering a total of 430,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of cargo containers, according to a latest report from the Fujian port authority.

The freight volume was 21.5 percent more than in the previous year.

The two-way direct shipping across the Taiwan Straits started in April 1994 on a trial basis, and has been on the increase since then.

According to official figures, by the end of 2000 there had been 5,457 voyages, shipping 1.196 million TEUs of cargo containers.