Experts have approved Guizhou’s plan to upgrade Wujiang River to link up with the Yangtze to the north. The four-year project involves 407km of waterway between the Wujiang River Ferry and Gongtan. Eight terminals will be built, comprising 16 berths for 500dwt vessels and 36 quays. It will compliment the Guiyang-Zunyi Expressway and the Guizhou-Chongqing Railway that have already been built. Construction is expected to start sometime next year.

In another development, the State Development and Reform Commission has approved a proposal to build the 345km Guizhou-Chongqing New Rail Line, which will cost approximately Rmb45bn. The line will go through mountainous terrain and involve numerous tunnels and bridges, making it a highly challenging project. It is one of 15 key rail projects on the priority agenda of the Ministry of Railway, and construction is scheduled to start in the third quarter of this year. Upon completion in 2013, the new line will help ease capacity pressure on the existing Guizhou-Chongqing line.