Provinces and municipalities along the Yangtze River should cooperate to modernize the world's third longest river, said Vice Premier Huang Ju.

The improved shipping capacity of the river, which links west, central and east China, would contribute greatly to social and economic development, said Huang in a written instruction on the waterway construction.

The Yangtze River runs through the Shanghai and Chongqing municipalities, as well as Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.

The government will invest 15 billion yuan (US$1.875 billion) in the 2006-2010 period to build the Yangtze waterway, the Communications Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The money will be mainly used for waterway management, port construction, shipbuilding standardization and shipping security projects.

The turnover of containers at ports along the Yangtze River was estimated to grow by 30 percent, according to the ministry.

China's fast economic growth, shortages of energy and resources and increasing environmental pressure have made water transport a favored choice because of the low cost, low energy consumption, low pollution and high handling capacity.

(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2006)