Up to 990 million tons of goods and materials will be carried on the Yangtze River this year, a rise of 15.1 percent year-on-year, China's Communications Minister said.

With heavy investment from government, the combined turnover is expected to surge 20.6 percent to 309.9 billion tons per kilometer, Li Shenglin told an industry meeting.

More shipping potential had been exploited on the Yangtze, better serving economic development along the river, Li said.

Ports along the 6,300-km-long river would see container volume reach 6.34 million TEU, 23.6 percent more than last year.

Shanghai would accelerate the building of an international shipping center, said Xu Zuyuan, Vice Minister of Communications. Integrated container systems would be completed to facilitate transportation of iron ore, coal, oil and automobiles.

The development of other ports in major cities along the river including Nanjing, Chongqing and Wuhan would go hand in hand with that of Shanghai, said Xu.

More than 15 billion yuan would be invested in infrastructure development in the next four years.