China to improve navigable capacity of its longest waterway

China will spend 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in improving the navigable capacity on the Yangtze River, the country’s longest, in 17 years, an official said yesterday. The money will be spent in dredging of the river’s lower reaches, expanding the middle reaches, and extending the navigable course on the upper reaches, said Huang Qiang, director of the Yangtze River Shipping Affairs Bureau with the Chinese Ministry of Communications.