China is facing a raft of challenges in developing the Yangtze River as a key route to facilitate the growth of its central and western regions, according to Bronson Hsieh, Vice Chairman of Taiwan’s Evergreen Group, including the need to improve the river’s navigability and to develop multimodal transport facilities. Cargo volumes at inland ports had been growing faster than at coastal ones. Last year, inland ports saw an 18.1% increase to 2.6 billion tons in freight, compared to a 15.3% rise to 5.5 billion tons of cargo at sea ports, he said, quoting Ministry of Communications figures. Liu Xihan, President of Sinotrans & CSC Holdings, said 1.3 billion tons were handled by ports along the Yangtze last year. This is expected to rise to 1.7 billion tons by 2020. Hsieh said traffic on the Yangtze would “run smoother only if the Jingjiang section [could] be improved”, referring to the 347-kilometer stretch from Zhicheng in Hubei province to Chenglingji in Hunan. The section often experienced clogged shipping, especially during the dry season when low water levels limited the size of ships that could travel on the river. Hsieh also said there was a lack of investment to improve the navigability of the Yangtze, with the funds spent on river improvements just 3.6% of the amount spent on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway under the 11th Five Year Plan. About 80% of China’s cargo is transported by road, which is partly why logistics costs – at 18% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP) – are high, according to Hsieh. In contrast, the cost of moving cargo in the United States and Europe accounts for about 9% of their GDP. Hsieh says only 3% of China’s domestic cargo is packed in containers, while transshipment volumes from water to railways account for just 2% of total port throughput. He added the volume of containerized domestic freight and intermodal cargo transfers through ports were “commonly above 30% in developed countries”.