Growth in container throughput at major mainland ports is likely to slow in the second half of the year due to the European sovereign debt crisis, the Chinese Ministry of Transport warned

         So far, Europe's problems have not significantly affected China's containerised exports, which enjoyed strong growth in the first half, but the ministry said the crisis would have a delayed effect, the South China Morning Post reported.

          In the first six months, throughput at major ports rose 22.7 percent to a record high of 64.4 million TEUs, according to the ministry's estimate on June 25.