Yangtze set to become a 'highway on the water'

New ship designs and dredging will open the river up to larger vessels. Xing Yi and Liu Kun report from Wuhan.

As the point at which two of the country's major transport routes - the north-to-south Beijing-Guangzhou rail line and the Yangtze River, which flows west to east - intersect, Wuhan holds a strategic position in the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

The belt covers 11 provinces and municipalities, including Hubei, Hunan, Shanghai and Chongqing.