Yangtze River Photo: VCG

The cargo throughput processed by the main ports along the Yangtze River in 2023 will rise 8.1 percent year-on-year to reach 3.88 billion tons, a new record, the Ministry of Transport said on Tuesday. 

Specifically, cargo throughput via the ship-lock at the giant Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, is estimated to reach 170 million tons, up 7.6 percent, and the carrying capacity of pilot vessels will be up 7.5 percent to reach 450 million tons. Both figures set new records.

Tourism along the country's longest river is also booming, with 1.38 million inter-provincial trips expected to be made this year, up more than 25 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels.

The use of electricity by vessels serving the Yangtze River Economic Belt is expected to reach 120 million kWh in 2023, up 64 percent. This will realize the goal of exceeding 100 million kWh of power consumption two years in advance. The number of new and clean-energy vessels running in the Yangtze River system has exceeded 300.

China has been strengthening the construction of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, prioritizing environmental protection. In 2022, the GDP of the Yangtze River Delta region reached 29.03 trillion yuan ($4.06 trillion), up 1.8 times from 2015 and accounting for 24.1 percent of China's total, according to data from the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Statistics on Monday. 

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a meeting on November 27 to review guidelines on policies and measures for further promoting high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, according to the Xinhua News Agency. 

The Chinese leadership has called for efforts to further promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, stressing the role of scientific and technological innovation in driving development, and reiterated the fostering of better connections between the domestic and international markets as part of the country's "dual circulation" development strategy. 

Global Times