Xu Guoyi, deputy director of the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration, said on Monday that the river's navigable waters would be widened from the present 200 to 250 meters to further 400 meters.

A total of four water courses would be built to allow vessels of different tonnage to navigate at varying speeds. The average navigation speed on the river would be eight knots.

During the World Exposition, Xu noted, at least four international ocean liners will be available to meet water traffic of 10,000 passengers supposed to come or leave Shanghai every day.

Experts believe that a total of 70 million guests from home and abroad are expected to visit the exposition in 2010. Some two million will come through water way.

To ensure transportation security, Xu said, the municipality plans to use advanced technologies, including a global positioning system, electronic sea charts and remote sensing equipment, to build a surveillance network.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2003)