Tianjin port records mixed import figures a year after the blasts

Tianjin port has seen some ups and downs since rocked by a series of explosions in August last year, according to official figures.

Total car imports fell 37.5 percent to 245,000 in August year-on-year, the Tianjin Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said.

The bureau claimed in an analysis that there were a number of reasons for the decline and although it could be partly due to the blasts, the main reason was the global economic slowdown.

However, foreign wines bucked the trend.

Wine imports rose by 42.5 percent to 70.4 million liters from the end of August last year to the beginning of August this year.

Feng Jian from Xinhengyongda Supply Chain Management said: "We did hit some bumps for three to four months after the blasts, because our clients were concerned about the warehouse situation. However, the total sale of our wine import business steadily grew about 20 percent compared to the same time last year."

Her company is?registered in Tianjin Dongjiang Port in 2011 and?located in Haitian Logistics Yuan about 11 kilometers away from the site. It?mainly serves as importer of wine and milk powder and lost few dozens of cargos in the blasts.

She said: "The rise was fueled by an increase in demand since the prices of imported wine became more acceptable to the citizens."

"There has been an increase in safety awareness," she added. "We have upgraded all the safety equipment in the warehouse and we carry out regular exercises in case of emergency."

It's been a year since the port city of Tianjin was ripped by chemical blasts that left 165 people dead, 8 missing and 798 injured, with 14 of them still under recovery.

Tianjin's mayor Huang Xingguo visited Tianjin's port area on Thursday, according to a local newspaper.

He addressed the importance of safety and gave instructions for the transition and innovation of Tianjin Binhai New Area, the economic engine of the city.