China's business hub Shanghai overtook Hong Kong as the world's second busiest container port in the first quarter of this year while Singapore held on to the top spot, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday.

Quoting Hong Kong's Port Development Council, the English-language daily said Hong Kong lost its rank as the world's busiest port to Singapore in 2005, and Shanghai and southern China's Shenzhen were closing in last year.

Shanghai outstripped Hong Kong by 380,000 20-foot equivalent units (teu) in the January-March period, according to the report.

According to the figures quoted, Singapore recorded 6.6 million teu in the first three months of the year, a 14 percent increase on the year, while Shanghai handled 5.9 million teu, a 28 percent surge on the year.

Hong Kong's throughput rose only 2.3 percent to 5.5 million teu in the reporting period, while Shenzhen handled 4.3 million teu.

A transport analyst quoted in the report attributed Shanghai port's growth to the city benefiting from the economic growth of the Yangtze River delta economic zone.

The local government has also cut handling charges for containers moving between locations in the delta region, further facilitating the growth.