BEIJING: Bulk freighters will be able to avoid congestion around Shanghai and sail up China's Yangtze River as far as Nanjing under a $2.7 billion plan to deepen the navigation channel by 2015, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The river would be navigable for ships up to 50,000 tonnes, which means handymax and supramax dry bulk carriers will be able to unload their cargoes further upstream in Jiangsu province, giving more manufacturers direct access to imported commodities, as well as easing logistics for exports, it said.
Nanjing is already a major destination for commodities shipments, chiefly iron ore. Its customs office handled imports of 17.5 million tonnes of iron ore in the first three months of this year, the third-highest in the country, after Qingdao and Shijiazhuang.
Huge supply bottlenecks have affected imports of coal, grains and other dry bulk goods into China, which has turned into the principle buyer for many raw materials thanks to rapid economic growth.
The 18 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) project to deepen the navigation channel would be funded by the Ministry of Transport and the government of Jiangsu province, Xinhua said.
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