China Taicang Port Development Zone, the largest foreign trade port area in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, has become a key production base for manufacturers from China and abroad. Located at the southern bank of the Yangtze river estuary, the zone covers an area of 261.8 square kilometers and now hosts 26 Fortune 500 companies, including big names like Procter & Gamble and BP Global. Some 25 state-owned enterprises and 15 U.S. companies have also invested in the area in the past few years. The short travel distance between Shanghai and Taicang allows companies to transport goods conveniently. The port of Taicang occupies some 38.8 kilometers of waterfront on the Yangtze river and features well-developed deep-draft berths. By the end of 2012, Taicang Port had built 28 berths for 10,000 DWT vessels, including 10 container berths. Its cargo capacity has reached 97 million tons, with container throughput amounting to 4.35 million TEU. In the near future, the port will have 172 productive berths, including 82 berths capable of accommodating 10,000 DWT vessels. Its planned cargo throughput will reach 282 million tons, and container throughput is expected to be 21million TEU annually. Founded in 1992, the zone was upgraded to a national high-tech zone in 2011. Last year, the gross regional product of the zone reached CNY21.6 billion, with the industrial output value amounting to CNY73.6 billion. With a history of more than 15 years, the zone has become one of the key high-tech parks for the petrol and chemical industries in China. It is also the most important economic zone in the Yangtze River Delta, the China Daily reports.

“During the 12th Five Year Plan period [from 2011 to 2015], our city will invest CNY20 billion to accelerate the development of Chongqing as an upstream shipping center along the Yangtze River,” said senior Chongqing transport official Teng Hongwei at a seminar. The city’s goal of becoming a major shipping hub along the upper Yangtze river should be accomplished by 2015, Teng added. Last year, Chongqing’s river trade reached 120 million tons. “The Yangtze river will be a very important trade channel. With the shift of manufacturing to Western China from coastal regions, more goods will pass through the Yangtze to Shanghai, where they will be exported,” said Li Zhongjie, Logistics Director of Wuhan International Container Transshipment. In April, Chongqing’s external trade skyrocketed 141% to USD13.5 billion, with exports jumping 188.6% to USD9.3 billion and imports soaring 77% to USD4.2 billion, making it the Chinese city with the fastest growth in trade. In the first four months of this year, Chongqing’s land-cargo traffic rose 74.5% to 13,811 tons, while its air freight leaped 107.3% to 29,809 tons.

A South Korean cargo ship that allegedly spilled phenol into the Yangtze river causing water pollution was detained and the owners of the vessel could face trial. The Wuhan Maritime Court, which has jurisdiction over the waters in the region, ordered the detention of the cargo ship Gloria, which was docked at the city of Nantong in Jiangsu province in early Feburary. Bail of CNY20.6 million has been set. The ship spilled the chemical into the river through underwater pipes. A court official said the shipping company would not face trial if a compensation agreement was reached with the local water supply company. The ship, which on February 2 was docked in Zhenjiang, leaked phenol on February 2 and 3 due to a faulty valve. Following the leak residents of Zhenjiang, a city of 3 million people, reported that their tap water had a pungent smell. The drinking water supply returned to normal on February 4.

Throughput at the Three Gorges Dam exceeded 100 million tons last year ― the first time since it became operational in 2003. The annual throughput of the dam has risen by 17% since then.

In the next 20 years, China will spend more than CNY200 billion upgrading river transport infrastructure as it seeks to boost domestic trade amid weakening export demand from the West. Deputy Transport Minister Xu Zuyuan said that expanding river transport was a major focus of the development of the shipping sector. For the 12th Five Year Plan to 2015, Beijing had prepared a CNY45 billion fund to expand waterways and invest in river ports in central and western regions, Xu said. CNY5 billion was also set aside to standardize river shipping. “Investing CNY45 billion in waterways will lighten the burden on roads. For example, when ships can’t pass through the Xi river [in Guangdong] in the dry season, the roads get congested,” said Xu. He called on local governments to increase their investments in waterways. Hunan’s government this month launched a CNY170 billion plan to invest in expanding the landlocked province’s river infrastructure over the next 20 years. To build waterways and ports, Hunan has budgeted CNY68 billion for the next 10 years and CNY102 billion for the following decade. Of the planned CNY170 billion of investment, CNY132.7 billion will be injected into waterways, including the Yangtze river and Xiang river, while CNY34 billion will be invested in ports such as Yueyang and Changsha. On November 23, Shandong province published its plan to accelerate river transport, under which CNY14 billion will be invested by 2015. The province plans to renovate and build 350 kilometers of waterways to increase the length of Shandong’s navigable waterways to 1,500 km by 2015, with throughput capacity exceeding 70 million tons and shipping capacity reaching 8.8 million DWT. Shandong plans to complete a network of waterways linking the Pacific Ocean with rivers by 2020. This includes expanding the capacity of the Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Beijing to accommodate 2,000-ton ships. Transporting goods along the Yangtze river is at least 50% cheaper than by road. On October 27, Gansu province announced plans to construct 654 km of waterways to extend the landlocked province’s navigable waterways to 1,010 km by 2015, and to further extend them to 1,346 km by 2020, the South China Morning Post reports.