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China Steps Up Safety Supervision on Yangtze
China Friday formed an organization to improve supervision of shipping safety on the mighty Yangtze River.
With the approval of the Chinese Ministry of Communications, the newly-founded Yangtze River Maritime Affairs Bureau will oversee safety on the Yangtze by preventing pollution caused by ships, conducting checkups of vessels, and enforcing rules and regulations.
Operating under the State Maritime Affairs Administration, the new bureau, located in Wuhan, a leading industrial city on the upper reaches of the river, will also set up branches in other cities along the Yangtze.
The bureau's predecessor was the Yangtze River Shipping Affairs Bureau, which was later renamed the Yangtze River Ports and Shipping Supervision Bureau. It was also in charge of monitoring safety on the Yangtze.
Shipping service on the Yangtze has been expanding rapidly since China started its reforms in 1978, and the river is now the country's busiest in terms of cargo and passenger transportation volume.
To date, 3,000 companies ship on the mighty waterway, ferrying 60 million passengers and carrying 186 million tons of cargo annually.
Meanwhile, 15 ports on the Yangtze are authorized to open to foreign vessels. So far this year, more than 80,000 foreign vessels have entered these ports.
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