Aerial photo taken on Dec. 13, 2018 shows a container wharf at Tangshan Port in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- China's container transport for export purposes picked up steam in February despite dipping demand on some routes, according to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.

The average China Containerized Freight Index (CCFI) climbed to 886.56 in February, up 3.5 percent from a month earlier, the exchange said.

The index averaged 869.34 in the first two months of the year, sharply up from an average of 817.8 for 2018.

The photo shows the process of container loading by a crane driver at Zhenghe Xinggang Terminals of Taicang Port in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Ji Haixin)

In February, the sub-index for Mediterranean route saw the strongest rally of 10.4 percent, while that for the Australia/New Zealand route fell 1.7 percent from January.

The CCFI tracks spot and contractual freight rates from Chinese container ports for 12 shipping routes across the globe, based on data from 20 international carriers.

The index was set at 1,000 on Jan. 1, 1998. Enditem