China Launches Massive Waterway Project Featuring the World’s Largest Inland Shipping Lock

May 26, Kathmandu – China has officially launched an ambitious waterway project on the Yangtze River, the world’s third-longest river, to address the rising demand for transportation. The project will feature the world’s largest inland shipping lock.

Ding Xuexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Vice Premier, formally initiated construction at a special ceremony in Yichang, Hubei Province, for the “Three Gorges New Waterway Project.”

Estimated at a cost of 7.72 billion yuan (approximately 1.13 billion US dollars), this project will add a five-tier, double-track new shipping lock in the northern region of the world’s largest water conservation facility, the Three Gorges Dam. In addition, the operation system of the smaller downstream dam will be upgraded.

Upon completion, the project will nearly double the annual cargo capacity of the Three Gorges to approximately 336 million tons. According to Niu Xinqiang, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the project will set world records in terms of vessel size, chamber width, and earth excavation scope.

Environmental protection is prioritized in the project’s design, including a dedicated fish passage to minimize impact on aquatic life and fish life cycles.

This marks the first major national infrastructure project under China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. The plan is crucial in advancing China’s goal of socialist modernization by 2035.

Economist Tang Pengfei from the Hubei Academy of Social Sciences noted that the project reflects the priorities of high-quality development and green growth in the Yangtze River Economic Belt over the next five years. This economic zone covers 11 provinces from the western mountainous regions to the eastern coast and contributes about half of China’s total GDP.

Key industrial clusters in metal, electronics, and automobile manufacturing are located in the region, alongside rapidly developing sectors such as artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and new energy technologies. The area is also a major center for foreign investment and trade, accounting for approximately half of China’s total foreign trade.

The Yangtze River, spanning more than 6,300 kilometers, has long been a vital economic artery for China. However, rapid growth and increasing cargo demand have placed immense pressure on the existing Three Gorges shipping lock. In 2011, the lock had already exceeded its designed annual capacity of 100 million tons. Last year, throughput surpassed 170 million tons.

The construction of the new lock and its 6,680-meter access channel is expected to take more than nine years. Upgrades to the downstream dam are scheduled to be completed within approximately eight years. The new waterway aims to remove supply chain bottlenecks, reduce trade costs, and better connect inland areas to global markets.

The project will also benefit vessel operators on the river by reducing wait times and transportation costs. Captain Jiang Zongjin, who has operated container ships on the Yangtze for two decades, expressed enthusiasm about the new waterway, noting that companies will avoid delay penalties and operators will be able to return home on time.