The volume of transport along the Yangtze River is expected to reach 990 million tons in 2006, with 309.9 billion ton-kilometers, 634 standard containers of port throughput and 550 million tons of non-stop river-to-sea freight traffic, up 15.1, 20.6 and 23.8 percent respectively from the previous year.

The Yangtze waterway has become one of the world's busiest inland transport rivers with the largest cargo volume. Trunk line traffic reached 700 million tons in 2005, 1.6 times that of the Mississippi and 3.1 times that of Rhine. Its total cargo volume hit 1.23 billion tons, 1.6 times that of the Mississippi.

The seven provinces and two municipalities that the Yangtze passes through generate more than 41 percent of China's economic aggregate. Currently, cargo along the Yangtze is 80 percent iron ore, 72 percent crude oil and 83 percent electrical coal required by enterprises along the river.

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