BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The Three Gorges new waterway project will further facilitate the high-quality development along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, guest speakers said during the latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency.

China on Monday began construction of the mega waterway project in Yichang of central China's Hubei Province, the country's first major project launched during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Once operational, the new waterway project will raise the annual cargo throughput capacity of the Three Gorges hub to 336 million tonnes, up from its originally designed capacity of 100 million tonnes and its current actual capacity of about 170 million tonnes, said Niu Xinqiang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The project will also greatly enhance direct river-sea shipping capacity. Upon completion, 10,000-tonne vessels will be able to sail directly to Chongqing Municipality in southwest China, allowing goods and containers transported from western China by road or rail to be loaded directly onto river-sea vessels, Niu said.

Moreover, the project will boost the development of ports along the Yangtze River, especially the shipping hubs of Wuhan and Chongqing, and it will help advance a green and low-carbon transport system.

Wang Hui, an official with the Ministry of Transport, said the new waterway project will enhance the efficiency and capacity of cargo passage through the ship locks. As water transport offers lower freight rates and strong cost advantages, more goods are expected to shift to waterway transport.

Transportation authorities will promote the integrated application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data and digital twins in managing vessel passage through the hub. These efforts will help reduce logistics costs and further support high-quality development, Wang said.

Spanning 11 provincial-level regions from the inland west to the eastern coast, the Yangtze River Economic Belt accounts for nearly half of the national GDP. It hosts major industrial clusters covering metallurgy, electronics and automobiles, while new sectors such as AI, biomedicine and new energy are rapidly taking shape.

This economic belt is also one of China's major hubs for foreign investment and trade, accounting for nearly half of the country's foreign trade. ■