Throughput of general cargo on the Yangtze trunkline totalled 1.39bn tons in 2010, up 22 per cent year-on-year, according to the Yangtze River Administration under the Ministry of Transport. Out of this total, 169m tons was foreign trade-related cargo, up 16.5 per cent. Container throughput reached 9.08m TEU, up 26 per cent, of which 3.6m TEU was foreign trade-related, up 19 per cent, and 5.48m TEU was domestic trade, up 31 per cent.

In 2011 throughput of general cargo is expected to rise by 12 per cent over last year to 1.5bn tons, while container throughput is forecast to increase 20 per cent to 11m TEU.