The trade flow of container transportation between 100 ports with biggest container throughput around the world has been scientifically estimated in this study. On the basis of the estimation, the spatial-temporal evolution pattern of global trade of container transportation between the ports has been comprehensively observed, and the hierarchal structure of global container transportation network has been revealed in the perspective of their trade connection. The results showed: (1) During the study period, the spatial pattern of global trade flow of container transportation has been formed, ...