The Chinese government will invest one billion yuan (US$120
million) in clearing shipping channels on the Yangtze River,
China's longest, this year.
The investment, earmarked by the Yangtze River Waterway Bureau,
would be spent on dredging and removal of rocks on ten
stretches.
Meanwhile, a digital navigation system for the 300-kilometer
stretch from Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, down to
Liuhekou, at the river mouth, would be completed and put into use
this year, said Tang Guanjun, director of the bureau.
"The digital system, including an electronic course map and
remote sensing of navigation markers, will help with navigation and
waterway maintenance," Tang said.
The stretch will be the first on the Yangtze to have a digital
system.
Last year, the bureau destroyed 848,000 cubic meters of rocks by
blasting a 90-kilometer section near Chongqing, which greatly
improved the navigation.
The maintenance of the 1,891-kilometer waterway from Chongqing
down to Wuhu City in east China's Anhui Province last year, had
increased the section's cargo transportation capability by nearly
70 million tons a year, the bureau said.
But in many sections of the river, shallow water or rocks still
hindered transportation, the bureau said.
The 6,300-kilometer Yangtze River is a major transport link
between west, central and east China.
Last year, 990 million tons of cargo was shipped on the
river.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2007)
