The Yangtze River’s main navigation channel is expected to handle over 400 million metric tons of cargo entering and leaving ports during the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush.

According to data released by the Yangtze River Navigation Administration of the Ministry of Transport, during the 40-day Spring Festival travel period in 2026, the total amount of cargo entering and leaving the Yangtze River trunk line reached 0.403 billion tons, an increase of 6.33 percent over the same period in 2025, demonstrating the strong freight vitality of the Yangtze River Golden Waterway. The transportation safety situation is good, and there is no water traffic accident of general grade or above. In terms of transportation guarantee of key materials, emergency transportation materials such as electric coal were effectively guaranteed, and the transportation volume of coal reached 87.742 million tons, an increase of 7.69 percent over the same period last year; at the same time, through the optimization of export services, the container transportation volume reached 29.8954 million tons, a substantial increase of 14.27 percent over the same period last year. In terms of passenger transport, the Yangtze River water tourism market has a strong recovery momentum. During the Spring Festival, the total number of cruise passenger passengers reached 1.1823 million, an increase of 18.01 percent over the same period last year, of which the inter-provincial cruise passenger volume increased significantly, reaching 73.05 percent. In addition, the navigation operation of the Three Gorges Hub is stable and orderly. During the Spring Festival, it has operated a total of 1408 locks (compartments), 4020 ships and 15.488 million tons of cargo through ships; the Three Gorges River section has received nearly 818000 passengers, a significant increase of 75.3 year-on-year, reflecting its dual functions as an important shipping hub and tourism node.