China boosts Yangtze River economic belt

BEIJING - China announced on Thursday new measures for the Yangtze River economic belt.

A State Council guideline released on Thursday seeks to enhance the traffic capacity of the river and its tributaries. An integrated transport system will connect roads, railways and air routes by 2020.

The service industry, green energy and modern agriculture feature prominently in plans for the belt, with coordinated urbanization along the river, including the Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster and Guizhou and Yunnan provinces.

China's longest river is also one of the busiest inland rivers for freight traffic worldwide. Water resources will be protected through strict control over pollution along the river.

The belt will be a new growth engine for the country, help access regions along the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze and boost growth in inland regions, reducing the development gap between east, central and western regions.

Rising in southwest China's Yunnan and emptying into the sea at Shanghai, the Yangtze River economic belt involves nine provinces and two municipalities.