Anhui Province has significantly strengthened its integrated transport network over the past decade, enhancing river-to-sea connectivity and improving multimodal transportation along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
According to a progress report released recently on the 10th Anniversary of the Beautiful Yangtze River (Anhui) Economic Belt Initiative, the province has made substantial advances in inland waterway transport, rail and highway infrastructure, logistics services and green transportation development. The full opening of Jianghuai Canal, a waterway linking the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, has expanded Anhui's navigable inland waterway network to 5,826 kilometers. The province's expressway network now exceeds 7,000 kilometers, with the operational high-speed railway network reaching 2,971 kilometers. Meanwhile, more than 5,600 China-Europe freight train services have been operated from Hefei, Anhui Province.
Anhui has continued to enhance navigation capacity along the Yangtze River, one of China's most important inland shipping corridors. A six-meter-deep navigation channel along the Yangtze River between Wuhan, Hubei Province, and Anqing, Anhui Province, has been completed, and the preparatory work is underway for an eight-meter-deep channel between Wuhu and Anqing. These improvements have enabled vessels of up to 30,000 tons to reach Wuhu and vessels of up to 10,000 tons to reach Anqing, marking a major increase in the shipping capacity of the Yangtze River in Anhui.
The completion of Jianghuai Canal has further strengthened links between Huaihe and the Yangtze river systems, creating more efficient river-to-sea transport routes and supporting the development of an integrated transport network connecting inland rivers, the Yangtze River and coastal ports.
Anhui now has four ports along the Yangtze River with annual cargo throughput exceeding 100 million tonnes. The number of berths capable of accommodating vessels of 10,000 tons or above has increased from 14 in 2015 to 31. In 2025, the province's ports handled 730 million tonnes of cargo and 3.135 million TEUs of containers, representing increases of 52 percent and 228 percent, respectively, compared with a decade earlier.
Over the past ten years, Anhui has accelerated the development of integrated transport corridors along and across the Yangtze River. Key expressway projects, including the Chaohu–Wuwei and Wuwei–Anqing sections of the North Yangtze Expressway and the expansion of the Wuhu–Ma'anshan section of the South Yangtze Expressway, have been completed and opened to traffic, improving regional connectivity and increasing the number of cross-river transport links. The opening of Wuhu Xuanzhou Airport has further strengthened the aviation network serving cities along the Yangtze River.
In the logistics sector, Anhui has established a waterborne container transport system featuring a core hub and supporting port clusters. The province has opened 70 inland container shipping routes, operating nearly 300 services each week. It has also launched the Yangtze River (Wuhu) Shipping Services Marketplace, which integrates 158 government service functions and provides businesses with one-stop, cross-regional and around-the-clock administrative services.
At the same time, Anhui has continued to prioritize environmentally sustainable transportation development. Efforts including vessel pollution control and the full deployment of shore power facilities at ports have been steadily advanced, promoting coordinated progress in both transportation development and ecological protection along the Yangtze River.
Source from: China Transport News