BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Three Gorges new waterway project will promote green and smart development concepts through its entire construction and operation cycle, guest speakers said during the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency.

The project broke ground in Yichang of central China's Hubei Province on Monday. It is envisioned as a new-generation smart green shipping hub, featuring a comprehensive intelligent navigation system that will span three core domains: smart scheduling, smart waterway and smart ship lock, said Wang Hui, an official with the Ministry of Transport.

Through interconnection of the three domains and coordinated data sharing and interaction, a hub navigation system featuring safety and controllability, high efficiency and intensiveness, and smart operation and maintenance will be established, as part of efforts to maximize navigation efficiency, Wang said.

As the Yangtze River ecological conservation draws high public attention, green development principles will be integrated into every stage of the project's lifecycle.

Targeted measures have been rolled out to protect endemic fish species in the Yangtze, such as dedicated fish passing facilities and restoring habitats of endemic fish, said Zhang Yunchang, an official with the Department of Three Gorges Project Management under the Ministry of Water Resources.

For the critically endangered Chinese sturgeon, an iconic species of the Yangtze, near-term measures include restoration of its spawning grounds and continuous natural spawning trials, while mid- and long-term plans will focus on expanding the population of parent sturgeons and substantially scaling up the release of the species, he added.

Gao Peng, deputy chief engineer of the China Three Gorges Corporation, said green concepts will run through whole project, and ecological protection is given top priority in the whole process of project planning, design and construction.

Terrestrial fauna and flora protection will be rolled out in an orderly manner, Gao said, adding that the construction scope will be strictly controlled to reduce occupation of surface vegetation and wildlife habitats, while affected rare protected plants and ancient trees will be either transplanted or protected in situ. ■