Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, comprehensive progress has been made in waterways, ports, vessels, and freight volume. Not long ago, the Ministry of Transport and five other ministries jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Inland Waterway Transport, providing fundamental guidance for the further advancement of inland waterway transport.
At the end of June this year, Fu Xuyin, Vice Minister of Transport, revealed at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, comprehensive progress has been made in waterways, ports, vessels, and freight volume. Among these, two sets of data related to green and intelligent transformation are particularly striking: the number of new energy and clean energy inland vessels nationwide has quietly surpassed 1,000; meanwhile, electronic navigation charts have achieved full coverage of the over 2,800-kilometer mainline of the Yangtze River… From “a thousand vessels competing” to “one chart connecting the river,” the “green and intelligent” transformation of inland waterway transport has already revitalized traditional water transport, but new questions arise: where will this major waterway channel head next? Not long ago, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Inland Waterway Transport (Opinions), outlining the overall requirements and main tasks for achieving high-quality development in inland waterway transport.
Inland Waterway Transport: Continuous “Highlights”
Since 2024, inland waterway transport has focused on the comprehensive upgrading of “waterways, green initiatives, intelligence, and services,” delivering a high-value report card (see Table 1).
In the field of waterway navigation, multiple projects aimed at enhancing waterway capacity have emerged. A “deep-water revolution” is underway along the main stem of the Yangtze River. On September 26, 2024, the second phase of the Jingjiang Waterway Regulation Project broke ground in Jingzhou, Hubei. Over the next 36 months, the 247-kilometer stretch from Wakouzi to Chenglingji will undergo “bone-shaving and heightening”—raising the dry-season water depth from 3.5–3.8 meters to 4.5 meters. This will allow 5,000-ton vessels to navigate freely year-round, eliminating dry-season restrictions, increasing annual cargo throughput by 50 million tons, and generating direct economic benefits of 950 million yuan for riverside enterprises.
An even more transformative upgrade follows. In June of this year, the Three Gorges New Waterway Project received the green light from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to commence construction. The project consists of two parts: the new Three Gorges Hub Channel and the expansion of the Gezhouba Dam’s navigation capacity. The feasibility study estimates a total static investment of approximately 76.6 billion yuan, with a construction period of 100 months. The new Three Gorges Hub Channel adopts a dual-line, continuous five-lock design, spanning 6,680 meters in total, with lock chambers measuring 280 meters × 40 meters × 8 meters (length × width × depth). Its annual navigation capacity is designed at 180 million tons, which, combined with the existing locks, will reach 280 million tons. The channel depth will increase to 8 meters, accommodating 10,000-ton vessels. Public data shows that the completion of this project will resolve the Three Gorges locks’ two-decade-long overcapacity crisis. Post-upgrade, average annual waiting time at the locks is expected to drop from over 200 hours to under 40 hours, and 10,000-ton fleets will be able to reach Chongqing year-round. The Hubei-Chongqing route will shorten by 260 kilometers, reducing travel time by 14 hours and cutting logistics costs by 40–70 yuan per ton. For instance, iron ore shipments from northwestern provinces transiting through Chongqing will save 1.5 billion yuan annually. The NDRC stated that the project holds significant strategic importance, facilitating high-quality development of the Yangtze River’s comprehensive transport corridor, advancing the Yangtze Economic Belt strategy, supporting domestic-international dual circulation, and implementing ecological and green development principles.
Meanwhile, the backbone waterway network is undergoing a major “densification” initiative. In the south, the 3,000-ton navigation channel project for the Xijiang Shipping Trunkline’s Nanning-Guiyang section commenced in December 2024. The 228-kilometer stretch will be dredged to Class I standards, enabling vessels from Nanning to sail directly to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and connect with the Pinglu Canal, creating a seamless river-sea intermodal corridor for Southwest China’s cargo to reach the Beibu Gulf. In the north, the second-phase upgrade of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal’s Zaozhuang section in Shandong has been completed, widening the Liuchang River’s bottom from 45 to 60 meters and deepening it from 3.2 to 4.2 meters, allowing 2,000-ton vessels to dock at Dongping Lake for the first time. The Huxi Waterway upgrade follows, elevating the entire Jining-Dongping Lake route to Class II, pushing Shandong’s high-grade waterway mileage past 500 kilometers and adding 80 million tons of annual capacity. Not to be outdone, the Huai River’s seaward channel phase II navigation project’s Yancheng section began construction in late June. The 162.3-kilometer waterway and five major hubs are progressing simultaneously, aiming for completion in 2029. The Huai’an-Binhai segment will then qualify as a Class II channel, enabling 2,000-ton vessels to sail directly to the Yellow Sea. Binhai Port’s river-sea intermodal zone will feature six 500-ton berths, cutting logistics costs by 20% and improving efficiency by 30%, finally giving the Huai River its own “golden sea-access channel.”
Tributary waterways, like capillaries, are being unclogged. After the Han River’s Yakou Hub was connected to the grid in June 2023, a 52.6-kilometer stretch in Hubei was upgraded from 500-ton to 1,000-ton capacity, with navigation reliability jumping from 70% to 98% and annual throughput surging from 1 million to 2.5 million tons. In April 2025, the second-phase lock project’s feasibility study was approved by Hubei’s Development and Reform Commission, signaling the imminent opening of the Han River–Xianggui Canal–Pinglu Canal north-south corridor. This will allow central and western cargo to flow directly to the Beibu Gulf, reinforcing Hubei’s pivotal role in China’s high-grade waterway network. The Xiang River is also accelerating its “stitching” of fragmented sections. Phases I and II of the Yongzhou-Hengyang segment are now operational, linking Yueyang’s Chenglingji to Yongzhou’s Wuxi via 641 kilometers of high-grade waterway. The 82-kilometer Phase III is set for completion in 2026, enabling 1,000-ton vessels from Yongzhou to reach Hengyang year-round and 2,000-ton vessels during high-water seasons. The Hengyang-Zhushui River-Changsha segment already meets 2,000-ton standards, while the Changsha-Chenglingji Class I channel is under round-the-clock construction. Soon, Changsha’s 3,000-ton vessels will sail year-round to Wuhan and Shanghai, fully integrating the Xiang River into the Yangtze Economic Belt’s “fast lane.”
In smart waterway development, an invisible “digital waterway map” is reshaping the Yangtze. In June 2025, the Ministry of Transport announced that China’s electronic waterway charts now cover over 9,950 kilometers, including full coverage of the 2,800-kilometer Yangtze main stem. With 5G and BeiDou systems, vessel tracking delays are under 3 seconds, while the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal’s Jining section employs digital twin technology to optimize energy-efficient routes via 3D modeling and real-time predictions, reducing fuel consumption by 10–15%. Ships navigate by algorithms, not just water conditions.
Locks, once bottlenecks, are now efficiency hubs. Jiangsu’s 35 locks offer “one-click passage,” cutting queue times from 30 to 5 minutes via mobile app pre-registration. Dushan and Zhapu ports integrate BeiDou smart scheduling into their “lock-vessel coordination system,” boosting lock utilization to 92% and adding 1.8 million tons of annual capacity. The Xijiang’s Changzhou Hub handled over 180 million tons in 2024—20% above design—transforming lock management from “vessels waiting for locks” to “locks waiting for vessels.”
With waterways and locks digitally integrated, ports are handing the multimodal relay to algorithms. Chongqing’s Guoyuan Port, which launched its first China-Europe freight train in 2017, now uses 5G-guided unmanned trucks to move 180 containers daily at two-thirds lower labor costs. E-pickups enable ship-to-train transfers with a single scan, seamlessly linking the Yangtze Golden Waterway, the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, and China-Europe trains. After Taicang Port’s paperless container system went live, gate crossings dropped from 2 minutes to 10 seconds, while “road-to-water” empty container transfers from Shanghai to Suzhou cut costs by 30%. Further south, Beibu Gulf Port synchronizes tides, ship schedules, and train timetables in code, auto-matching inland vessels to optimal berths. In early 2025, waiting times halved, container volume grew 30%, and per-TEU logistics costs fell by 200 yuan.
Green shipping has also seen breakthroughs. Over 1,000 new-energy inland vessels are now in operation, according to Fu Xuyin. Feng Yue, deputy director of the Waterborne Transport Research Institute, notes China’s multi-energy, phased approach: 600+ LNG-powered vessels (mainly cargo ships), 485 pure-electric vessels (mostly passenger boats), 4 methanol-powered, and 2 hydrogen fuel cell ships. Feng highlights China’s global leadership in electric vessels, exemplified by the world’s largest 10,000-ton pure-electric cargo ship, launched on December 30, 2024, at Zigui Huaxing Shipping (a Yangtze Power subsidiary), which will save 617.5 tons of fuel and 2,052 tons of CO₂ annually. Concurrently, China’s first electric debris-collection vessel, “Three Gorges Dam Protector No. 1,” debuted with a 4,000-kWh battery for 160-km range, saving 253.4 tons of diesel and 844.3 tons of CO₂ yearly. Industry experts predict an “electric vessel tipping point,” with China’s market hitting 36 billion yuan by 2026 and global penetration reaching 15% by 2030.
Shore power usage along the Yangtze Economic Belt has become routine. Fu reports 2024 consumption hit 190 million kWh—four times the peak during the 13th Five-Year Plan—cutting 133,000 tons of CO₂ and supporting river conservation.
As ships “change clothes,” waterways “plant green.” The Jingjiang stretch transformed embankments into eco-shorelines: submerged mattresses, revetments, and beach stabilization raised depths from 2.9 to 3.8 meters, accommodating both ships and fish. By 2023, over 80% of Yangtze banks were greened, with 3 million m² of stabilized beaches forming continuous green buffers. Down south, the Xijiang’s Datengxia Hub built a natural-like fishway at its Nanmu auxiliary dam, using cobbles, slopes, and pools to mimic rivers. By 2024, it welcomed nine rare species like Cyprinus carpio and Anguilla marmorata, totaling 66 species in three years—a “hidden dam” with restored migration paths.
In the Yangtze Delta, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal’s Zhejiang section embeds “zero-carbon” into its route. The Changxing (Huzhou)-Zhapu (Jiaxing) corridor links four trunk lines—Changhushen, Hujiashen, Dongzong, and the Grand Canal—with eight electric cargo ships and six charging stations forming a shared “ship-power network.” The “Wuxing Ruigang 001” cuts per-km costs to one-third of diesel vessels, saving 248 tons of CO₂ yearly. Shore power poles, solar sheds, and smart charging stations line the banks like signposts, tethering waterways, ports, and industrial zones into a green energy web—China’s first zero-carbon inland shipping model.
Currently, measures such as waterway upgrades, vessel renewal, digital empowerment, and ecological governance are being progressively implemented along main and branch routes like the Yangtze River, Pearl River, and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The next step for inland waterway transport is to focus on the goals outlined in the Opinions. By 2030, electronic navigation chart coverage for high-grade waterways will reach 85%, major ports along the Yangtze River trunk line will achieve 100% railway-to-port connectivity, the average net deadweight tonnage of motorized cargo vessels nationwide will exceed 1,900 tons, the Yangtze River Delta inland waterway transport high-quality development pilot zone will be largely completed, and the share of inland waterway freight volume and cargo turnover in the comprehensive transportation system will further increase.
With continuous improvements to the waterway network, accelerated adoption of green technologies, and gradual expansion of digital oversight, inland waterway transport will play a more stable role in reducing overall logistics costs, optimizing transportation structures, and facilitating coordinated regional development. It will also provide observable, replicable, and scalable practical experience for building a modern comprehensive transportation system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
