Shenzhen will surpass Hong Kong for the first time ever to become the third largest container port in the world, according to a report released in Beijing on Monday.

The industrial report, delivered by the Center for Forecasting Science, China Academy of Sciences and World Port Forecasting Research Group, forecasts that the container throughput from the Shenzhen port will reach 2,330 to 2,350 TEUs in 2013, a year-on-year growth of 1.6 to 2.5 percent.

The first and second largest container ports on the Global Top 20 list are Shanghai and Singapore, which was the same as last year's report.

Influenced by world economy's slow recovery, global demand for container transportation will continue to experience a small growth rate in 2013 and Chinese ports will still lead the world in container throughput growth, the report said.

The report also indicates that growth of container throughput in major Asian ports will remain higher than the global average.