[photopress:shippingYangtze.jpg,full,alignright]China’s Communications Minister has said up to 990 million tons of goods and materials will be carried on the Yangtze River this year, a rise of 15.1 percent year-on-year.
Li Shenglin told an industry meeting said with heavy investment from government, the combined turnover is expected to surge 20.6 percent to 309.9 billion tons per kilometer.
Ports along the 6,300-km-long river will see container volume reach 6.34 million TEU, 23.6 percent more than last year.
Xu Zuyuan, Vice Minister of Communications said Shanghai will accelerate the building of an international shipping center. An integrated container system would be completed to facilitate transportation of iron ore, coal, oil and automobiles.
Xu Zuyuan said the development of other ports in major cities along the river including Nanjing, Chongqing and Wuhan would go hand in hand with that of Shanghai. More than RMB15 billion will be invested in infrastructure development in the next four years.
Source: Xinhua