Port operator China Merchants Holdings (International saw its first-half net profit rise 12 percent from a year earlier due to an increase in container handling volume as international trade recovered from the global financial crisis, reported Dow Jones Newswires.

      Though the Hong Kong-listed blue chip said it expects growth in China's container throughput to slow in the second half due to the impact of the European debt crisis, the company nonetheless sees demand from emerging markets, such as intra-regional trade between China and Southeast Asian countries, as the next possible growth driver.