Beijing, Jan 6 (IANS): About 2.18 billion tonnes of cargo was shipped through the main reaches of the Yangtze river in 2015, about 120 million tonnes more than the figure from last year, authorities said on Wednesday.

Tang Guanjun, director of the Yangtze River Administration of Navigational Affairs, under the ministry of transport, said the growth is a result of continued effort to improve navigation, shipment structure and upgrade ports along the water, Xinhua reported.

During the past five years, navigation has been improved along 2,293 km of the river waters, Tang said.

Deeper water channels have been dredged downstream in eastern Nanjing and Nantong in the past five years.

The waters between Yibin and Chongqing in the upper stream were also dredged to allow bigger vessels to pass through.

There are about 12 ports with the ability to handle more than 100 million tonnes of cargo along the Yangtze.

About 6,380 km (about 3,964 miles) long, Yangtze is the longest river in China.