Number of registered sailors in China tops 1.9m by 2022

BEIJING -- China was home to over 1.9 million registered sailors by the end of 2022, up 5 percent over the previous year, and leads the world, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.

One million of them are river ship sailors, and the rest are mariners, the data showed.

Over 90 percent of China's foreign trade and 50 percent of domestic trade are shipped, which makes sailors important actors in the Chinese economy, the ministry said.

The ministry said it had taken steps to protect the safety and other legitimate rights and interests of sailors.