(Yicai) Dec. 16 -- The roll-on/roll-off ship terminal in Taicang, China's eastern Jiangsu province, co-built by Jiangsu Port Group, Shanghai International Port Group, and Chinese automaker SAIC Motor has officially come on stream.

The new terminal can simultaneously host two 70,000-ton and one 3,000-ton ro-ro ships at its waterfront and store 32,000 vehicles at its onshore section, SAIC announced on its official WeChat account on Dec. 12.

With its annual throughput capacity of 1.3 million cars, the new terminal will help Chinese carmakers accelerate their overseas expansions, the Shanghai-based company added.

China exported 5.2 million cars last year, overtaking Japan to become the world's biggest auto exporter for the first time ever. In the first 11 months of this year, China's auto exports soared 21 percent to 5.3 million units from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufactures.

SAIC was China's largest automaker by exports for the eighth consecutive year in 2023. However, its overseas sales fell 12 percent to 937,493 cars in the 11 months ended Nov. 30 from the same period last year, mainly because of the impact of the European Union's additional import tariffs on China-made cars introduced in July.

SAIC's subsidiary SAIC Anji Logistics owns 12 cargo ships for foreign trade operating over eight shipping routes, including some to destinations in Europe, Mexico, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Among other Chinese carmakers that own export-purpose ships is BYD. The new energy vehicle giant put into operation its first ro-ro ship in January this year, with plans to expand its fleet to eight such ships within two years.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione