On August 8, the 2025 Yangtze River Shipping High-Quality Development Promotion Conference was held in Nanjing. Data released at the meeting showed that in the first seven months of this year, the cargo throughput of ports along the Yangtze River trunk line is estimated to reach 2.34 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%.
The Yangtze River trunk line waterway stretches over 2,800 kilometers. Since 2005, the freight volume of the Yangtze River trunk line has ranked first among the world’s inland rivers for 20 consecutive years. Currently, the Yangtze River handles over 80% of the iron ore, thermal coal, and foreign trade cargo transportation required for economic and social development along its banks. It contributes more than 120 billion yuan directly and over 2 trillion yuan indirectly to the economic and social development of the riverine regions annually.
Liu Liang, Director of the Yangtze River Maritime Affairs Administration of the Ministry of Transport, stated that the navigation rules for the Yangtze River trunk line have now been unified, and the electronic waterway chart of the Yangtze River system covers 5,606 kilometers. The “Credit Yangtze” information system version 2.0 has been launched, with 260,000 registered users, and the intelligent management platform has handled over 49,000 tasks. The “Yangtze New Chain” and the Yangtze River Shipping Data Center have been completed and put into operation, while the new-generation Beidou shipborne intelligent terminal is being promoted and applied. The shore power, tank cleaning supervision, and service information system are operational, and the Yangtze River new energy and clean energy vessel monitoring and service platform, as well as the Yangtze River vessel energy replenishment and refueling supervision and service information system, are in trial operation. The use of shore power by vessels in the Yangtze River Economic Belt when berthing has become standard practice, with 128.628 million kilowatt-hours consumed in the first seven months, a year-on-year increase of 22%.
