According to figures released by the Yangtze River Navigational Affairs Administration, cargo volumes rose 8.2% in 2017 with 2.5 Bt of cargo transported.

According to figures released by the Yangtze River Navigational Affairs Administration, cargo volumes rose 8.2% in 2017 with 2.5 Bt of cargo transported. Moreover, in the uppermost reaches of the river, a record 138 Mt of cargo was moved through the locks of the Three Gorges, a number that the agency said was 40% above design capacity. The pressure on the river is immense and increasing as the central government’s Yangtze  River Economic Belt (YREB) initiative takes hold, and new factories, processing plants and logistics centres are built. The YREB extends from Shanghai – the world’s largest container port – in the east, to Panzhihua in the west. It covers 11 provinces, 29 main cities, including Wuhan and Chongqing, and is estimated to house over 600M of the nation’s population and to account for 40% of its economic output. Clearly, it is one of President Xi Jinping’s strategic programmes for the country.Provincial and city  authorities, state-owned enterprises and private companies are all investing in the corridor, as they seek to boost the river’s cargo carrying capacity, and improve the efficiency with which freight is transported.

Dredging programme

Over the past 12-18 months, channels have been deepened, navigational aids upgraded, new ships/barges built and ordered, ports modernised, and 

facilities created for handling a much larger number of containers. The latter is important, as containerized  cargo is one of the fastest growing sectors on the corridor. In 2017, over 16.5M TEU was transported, compared with 15.2M TEU in 2016.

The dredging programmes are extremely important, as, on average, for every 1 cm increase in navigable draught, approximately 176t of additional cargo can be carried on a typical river vessel/ barge of 3,000 dwt.

Project 645, which involves deepening 16 km of the river between Yichang (Hubei province) and Anqing (Anhui province) is one of the most important upgrades currently underway.

Changjiang Wuhan Waterway Engineering started work on the project in November 2017, and is deepening the section between Wuhan and Yichang from an average of 3.8m to 4.5m and between Anqing and Wuhan from 4.5m to 6m.

It will substantially boost cargo carrying capacity in these sections of the river, as ships of up to 13,000 dwt will be able to call directly in Wuhan, and 5,000 dwt capacity vessels in Yichang. It will also allow all ships to transit these sections of the river faster and in greater safety.

Meanwhile, considerable efforts are underway to ensure that multimodal transport services are expanded and that integrated tri-modal (road, rail and barge/ship) and logistics centres are developed at key cities along the corridor. These also help connect the Yangtze with the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, which is focused on the east-west Silk Road.

Port-road connection

Last year, the first container block train service departed Chongqing for Europe (Germany), and it was the opening of the city’s Guoyuan bonded logistics centre that was a key factor in this development. With the zone offering a seamless connection between

the port and the city’s rail yard, it is hoped that as many as 1,000 trains will run between the city and Europe in 2018.

Similar complexes are being built elsewhere, including at Wuhan. Dubbed the Chicago of China, because of its central location and good transport connectivity, specialist infrastructure investment company Yangtze River Port and Logistics Limited is pursuing a huge development project in the city.

Wuhan Yangtze River Newport Logistics Center is being created in the Wuhan Yangluo Economic Development Zone of the city, and will result in the construction of a new port and the provision of additional freight processing and business/leisure park zones in the city.

The Wuhan Newport Yangluo port will feature eight berths capable of handling ships of 5,000 to 10,000 dwt, with the marine terminals having equipment and storage capacity for the processing of general cargo, neo-bulks, containers and reefer cargoes.

The port will have a design throughput capacity of 5 Mtpa, including more than 100,000 containers.

The other elements of the project comprise:

Warehousing and distribution activities - almost 460,000 m2 of space to construct five warehouses 

• with the capacity to process 6 Mtpa of cargo and store up to 3 Mt, as well as other auxiliary production facilities, equipped with the appropriate equipment.
• Cold chain storage and logistics operations - occupying almost 200,000 m2 of land for the development of two cold storage centres able to accommodate a full range of ambient, chilled and deep frozen goods, and two plants for processing and packaging frozen food.
• Train marshalling and cargo loading/discharge activities - approximately 205,000 m2 has been allocated for the intermodal and general cargo rail yard. It will feature 1,900m of rail track for cargo handling operations, and have the capacity to process 500,000 TEU a year and 2.5 Mtpa of general cargo, of which over 1 Mt is expected to be steel products.
• Commercial activities - this is planned to occupy 184,666 m2, and feature apartment buildings, banks, hotels, clubs and other leisure facilities.
• Exhibition areas - a variety of halls and venues will be built on a 331,333 m2 site.

Meanwhile, new vessels are being built for the river trade, with the Wuhan New Port Administration Committee scheduled to phase into operation six container ships over the next 15 months, each with the capacity to load 1,140 TEU. With lengths of 147m and beams of 26m, they will be the largest units in service in the middle reaches of the river. They represent a total

investment of approximately RMB300M

(US$47M).

Upper reaches

Outside of the middle reaches of the river, Chongqing in the upper sector has been earmarked for expansion, along with several ports from Nanjing to the delta area in the lower segment. In the majority of cases, the most interesting developments are occurring on the rail and logistics fronts. This is because the Chinese Government sees a bigger role for rail in the freight sector, and views better connectivity between east-west and north-south corridors as important for the country’s future economic growth. In Chongqing, for instance, plans are being accelerated with regard to the development of the Southern Transport Corridor, which will connect the western Yangtze River port with Singapore, via Beibu in Guangxi province.

As with many projects in China, particularly those viewed as having a strategic significance, various incentives, subsidies and/or rebates are made available to support investment and to kick-start projects.

In January, 2018, for example, various state agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation, announced that an additional five ports in the

YREB would be included in the rebate scheme that is designed to encourage exports from the region. These ports comprise Luzhou, Guoyuan (Chongqing), Yichang, Yongjia (Zhangjiagang) and Langshan (Nantong). These joined existing ports/terminals, including 

Yangshan and Waigaoqiao in Shanghai, Taicang in Suzhou, Longtan in Nanjing, and Yangluo in Wuhan.

With significant investments in place, and with full backing from central and provincial governments, the Yangtze River, its ports and its transport infrastructure is set to play a bigger

role in China’s future trade and contribute more to its economic development.