China's Ministry of Transportation reports that the country spent US$2.3 billion on the waterways during the period January to April 2013.
This investment by the government shows an increase of 21.2 per cent over the same period in 2012.
River transportation enjoys lower shipping rates, larger shipment volume and less energy consumption, although China's river transportation development has long been lagging behind other means of transportation.
According to a Xinhua report, with support from the state government, China's river traffic has come onto a development fast track since 2011. In 2011 and 2012, China invested CNY85.28 billion on river traffic, which grew at an average rate of 16.6 per cent per year.