A major dredging programme started on 1 November to increase the water depth of the Yangtze to 12.5 metres all the way up to Nanjing. The 306km stretch in Jiangsu province, by far the busiest on the entire river, has a current guaranteed water level of 10.5 metres. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2013.

Every increment of one metre in the water level allows vessels to carry an extra 1,000 TEU, thus reducing shipping costs substantially.