China - February 26, 2025 Shipping activities on China's longest waterway gain steam post-holiday season (Voice_over) Shipping activities on the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, are picking up steam after the Spring Festival holiday. In east China's Nanjing, a city located in the lower reaches of the river, the shipping industry has been buoyed by a surge in steel demand. At a finished goods terminal, all four berths are occupied by bulk carriers, with five cranes working non-stop to load steel coils onto ships. (Sound_bite) Yang Fan, Deputy director, Nanjing port operating center, Ouye Yunshang Co., Ltd, China Baowu Steel Group Corp., Ltd.: "We've been operating around the clock and our daily throughput has nearly doubled compared to pre-holiday levels. The demand from downstream industries remains strong." (Voice_over) To allow ships to carry more cargo, local authorities have increased the draft for large vessels entering and exiting the Nanjing Port from the previous 11.36 meters to 11.8 meters. (Sound_bite) Xue Hai, Deputy head, Nanjing Transportation Bureau: "Although the change is just around 40 centimeters, increasing the draft from 11.36 meters to 11.8 meters allows each vessel to carry nearly 5,000 more tons of cargo, saving more than 40,000 U.S. dollars in costs per ship." (Voice_over) Official data estimates show that the cargo throughput of ports along the trunk stream of the Yangtze River surpassed 4 billion tonnes in 2024. [Restriction: No access Chinese mainland]