Yangtze River Shipping East Gate Co-construction and Co-governance Opens a New Chapter

Recently, the Yangtze River Shipping East Gate Co-construction and Co-governance Evaluation Meeting was held in Taicang. Representatives from the Jiangsu Taicang Port Management Committee, Taicang People's Procuratorate, Yangtze River Pilot Center, Yangtze River Estuary Hydrology and Water Resources Survey Bureau, Yangtze River Shanghai Waterway Bureau, China Classification Society Jiangyin Office, Taicang Meteorological Bureau, Nantong Maritime Bureau, Changshu Maritime Bureau, and Taicang Maritime Bureau gathered to discuss cooperation, plan development, and jointly signed the "Yangtze River Shipping East Gate Channel Safety Co-construction and Co-governance Agreement (2026)."

The signing of this agreement is a systematic enhancement of five years of co-construction experience. The number of member units has expanded from 6 to 9, with the addition of the Taicang People's Procuratorate, Taicang Meteorological Bureau, and China Classification Society Jiangyin Office, injecting legal supervision, precise meteorological warnings, and professional technical information as safety support.

The Taicang section of the Yangtze River, as the last 38.8 kilometers of the Yangtze River mainline, serves as the first gateway for ships entering and exiting the river and is a strategic passage. Annually, nearly 50,000 sea-going vessels pass through, with 500,000 transit ships and 100 million tons of hazardous chemical transit transportation. The unique geographical conditions determine that this gateway cannot be safeguarded through "solo efforts."

In June 2021, Taicang Maritime Bureau, together with the first batch of six units, established the Yangtze River Shipping East Gate Channel Safety "Co-construction and Co-governance" Alliance. Member units have comprehensively formed a collaborative governance framework in areas such as intelligent supervision, credit governance, waterway hydrology support, and emergency coordinated response. The development of the Yangtze River Shipping East Gate Monitoring and Early Warning Platform provides the earliest, fastest, and most direct risk warnings for the lower Yangtze River. The first regional port entry guide in the country was released, and the sea-going vessel inspection service station for entering the Yangtze River operates efficiently, reducing uncontrolled incidents of sea-going vessels entering the river by 55% year-on-year. These measures have continuously improved the proactive defense level of the Taicang section of the Yangtze River, steadily enhanced navigation capacity, and comprehensively strengthened practical response capabilities. With a 33% and 52% increase in port entry vessel volume and container throughput, respectively, the Taicang section of the Yangtze River has achieved five consecutive years of zero fatalities and zero major accidents, achieving a qualitative leap in intrinsic safety levels.

All member units will take the signing of this agreement as a new starting point, jointly safeguarding the Yangtze River Shipping East Gate, striving to create a model for safety governance and service assurance at this critical waterway, and adding a layer of safety to the high-quality development of Yangtze River shipping.