Liu Xihan, deputy board chairman of Sinotrans Yangtze National Shipping Group and a member of the National People’s Consultative Council, has recently called on the central government to set up a Yangtze Shipping Exchange.

“This will be an important platform for the entire navigable length of the Yangtze to exchange information and observe uniform rules,” he was quoted as saying.

Mr Liu believes that the exchange will help promote service sector industries such as ship broking, shipping agents and crew recruitment. He complained that it is too easy for new ship operators to enter the Yangtze market, and that building quality, safety measures and crew provision requirements are not uniform and are usually laid down by local governments that tend to favour local operators. This situation, he claimed, is the main reason why more than 60 per cent of vessels sailing on the Yangtze are sub-standard.