A total of Rmb18bn will be spent on deepening the navigation channel of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River between 2011 and 2015, according to local authorities.

Chen Yuanhua, deputy director of the Nanjing Yangtze River Waterway Bureau, said the project would allow 50,000-ton vessels to sail from the mouth of the river all the way up to Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu province.

Major construction work, starting at the end of this year, is expected to be completed by 2015.
The money will come from the Ministry of Transport and the government of Jiangsu province.