Data from the Yangtze River Waterway Authority shows that from January to June this year, cargo throughput at ports along the main Yangtze River line reached 19.7 billion tons.
Yangtze River Shipping: Aiming for Goals with Innovation
This year marks the beginning of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, and the Yangtze River shipping industry has seen a steady and positive start. On July 24th, the Changjiang Waterway Transport Authority (CWTA) reported that from January to June, ports along the main Yangtze River line handled 19.7 billion tons of cargo and piloted 30,000 vessels. Container throughput reached 14.218 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%. The sector ensured the transport of 500 million tons of key materials, including grain and energy, and facilitated the efficient transport of 200,000 new energy vehicles.
CWTA Director Liu Liang stated that the authority has thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Ministry of Transport's Party Group. Adhering to the "145" high-quality development framework and the "131" smart Yangtze River construction path, the authority has continuously strengthened the foundation for high-quality development in the first half of the year. This has led to accumulated momentum, an optimized structure, and enhanced resilience and vitality of the golden waterway, ensuring smooth cargo flow and convenient travel, thereby providing strong support for the economic and social development of regions along the river.
Navigation Capacity Continues to Improve
Operations along the endless Yangtze River continue day and night. In the first half of the year, the navigable depth guarantee rate for the main Yangtze River channel reached 100%. The connectivity mileage of the Yangtze River waterway electronic navigation "one-map" extended to 12,165 kilometers, continuously expanding the pattern of unified river system overview. Following the successful completion of the 45-day maintenance shutdown of the Three Gorges South Ship Lock and Gezhouba No. 2 Ship Lock, the Three Gorges Hub operated smoothly in the first half of the year, with a throughput of 76.643 million tons.
Major project construction is accelerating. On June 8th, the first major national landmark project initiated during the 15th Five-Year Plan period—the Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel—officially began construction in Yichang, Hubei Province. This is the largest comprehensive project on the main Yangtze River since the Three Gorges Project, integrating water conservancy, shipping, and ecological functions. Upon completion, the Three Gorges Hub is expected to have a configuration of four ship locks and a ship lift, with a total throughput capacity of 336 million tons. The Gezhouba Hub will also feature four ship locks, with a total capacity of 360 million tons. Simultaneously, the second phase of the Yangtze River Estuary South Channel Regulation Project has commenced construction. This is the first major water transport project on the main Yangtze River during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Its completion will increase the navigable water depth of the South Channel from 6 meters to 8 meters, enabling 5,000-ton vessels to navigate at all tides, allowing 10,000-ton vessels to sail fully loaded on dual tides, and accommodating 20,000-ton vessels on tidal conditions.
Significant Progress in Safety and Green Development
Safety is the lifeline of Yangtze River shipping. The CWTA has refined a "five-one" normalized scheduling mechanism for safety, conducting two rounds of risk hazard investigations during the Spring Festival, summer, flood season, and holidays, addressing 9,076 major hazards. It has developed guidelines for enhanced control of major hazard sources during holidays, optimized safety management measures for inter-provincial passenger routes along the main river, and extended the "one-route, one-policy" approach to routes below Yichang. The authority has also achieved preliminary full-chain supervision of ship-borne dangerous cargo, with an installation rate of 96% for intelligent monitoring systems at hazardous chemical terminals. The overall safety situation for Yangtze River shipping remained stable from January to June.
The emphasis on green development is more pronounced. The CWTA has released an "Operation Guide for Electric Vessel Charging and Swapping on the Yangtze River" and a "Guide for Methanol Fuel Bunkering on the Yangtze River." The effectiveness of the "zero discharge" treatment of ship pollutants has been consolidated, with a pollutant delivery and disposal rate exceeding 98%. The promotion of green vessels has led to 1,133 being built or under construction, of which 882 have been incorporated into the green vessel monitoring system. There are 246 energy refueling stations offering scanning payment, having provided online services to 39,000 vessels cumulatively.
Smart Shipping Services Within Reach
In the wave of the digital economy, Yangtze River shipping is rapidly entering a "smart voyage." In the first half of the year, the "Credit Yangtze River" system was upgraded to version 3.0, aggregating 480,000 credit entities and 7.5 million data points. It has expanded to eight application scenarios, including credit-based lock passage, cargo owner selection, and financing insurance. The Yangtze River Shipping Intelligent Management Platform has been fully deployed, efficiently handling 238,000 tasks. The construction of version 2.0 of the Comprehensive Support Platform is accelerating, with three high-quality data sets established, significantly improving the digitalization level of industry governance.
The public service platform is undergoing iterative upgrades. The new version of the "Yangtze River e+" service has expanded to 86 functions, connecting with 20 green integrated service areas along the main river. It provides both online and offline services, enabling "one-network inquiry, one-network processing, and one-network evaluation," with daily clicks exceeding 400,000. The "Yangtze River Hotline" has been launched for unified handling of inquiries, difficulties, complaints, and reports, offering 24/7 one-stop response services. A financial services platform for Yangtze River shipping has been developed, partnering with financial institutions to provide low-interest loans for vessel refueling and other needs.
The shipping market is becoming more standardized, and the transport structure is continuously optimizing. In the first half of the year, the CWTA collaborated with five provinces and cities in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River to build the "Thousand-Mile Light Boat" multi-modal transport system, opening 20 routes cumulatively. It has coordinated the scrapping and renewal of old operational vessels, reviewing 4,682 vessels and allocating 6 billion yuan in subsidies. The revision of the national standard for the main dimensions of standard ship types for passing locks has been promoted, and 51,600 "attached" inter-provincial transport vessels have been checked.
Liu Liang stated that the CWTA will target the objectives of the 15th Five-Year Plan, firmly secure the bottom line of safety and stability, accelerate the construction of major projects, and steadily advance the main construction of the Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel and related shipping facilities. It will also promote the second phase of the Yangtze River Estuary South Channel Regulation Project. The authority aims to create a pilot model for building a strong transportation country, initially forming a data-sharing platform for the electronic navigation "one-map," and basically establishing a coordinated port and shipping intelligent service system. It will pilot intelligent anchoring services and apply the smart Three Gorges shipping big model. The CWTA will accelerate the creation of a green corridor for Yangtze River shipping, promoting the construction of one or two green integrated service areas and methanol fuel bunkering points. It will systematically build a smart Yangtze River shipping ecosystem, advance the construction of an integrated information public service platform for inland waterway shipping, create two to three core business scenario high-quality data sets, and promote modern shipping financial services. The authority will steadily improve waterway capacity, trial a 4.5-meter navigation depth for the Jingzhou to Yueyang section, strengthen the transport service guarantee for key materials, and ensure safe, smooth, and orderly Yangtze River shipping.