The cargo handling capacity of Guangzhou Port is expected to hit 585 million tons this year.

The figure was 539 million tons in the first 11 months of the year, up by 8.8 percent year-on-year.

Next year, the Guangzhou Port Authority will continue expanding the exchange and cooperation with foreign ports in fields such as information exchange and talent training, and prepare for the 31st World Ports Conference in 2019, said Chen Hongxian, director of the Guangzhou Port Authority at a recent press conference.

Meanwhile, the passenger throughput at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport stood at about 60 million in the 11 months of this year, up by 10.2 percent over the same period last year, and is expected to reach 65 million people in the entire year this year. The Terminal 2 of the airport will go into service in February next year, said Sun Xiuqing, director of the administrative committee of the Guangzhou Aerotropolis Development District.

In the coming year, Sun's committee will actively pursue the brand building related to the airport and explore new ways of constructing the airport-side industrial park, he said.

The influence of the Guangzhou Aerotropolis Development District is bound to be enhanced with the 2018 World Route Development Conference being held in Guangzhou, Sun said.