This paper expounds the development blueprint and key work of the Yangtze River shipping in the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan. The article points out that CAAC will seize the strategic opportunity, give full play to its five advantages, take high-quality development as the theme, and focus on the construction of five major systems: modern infrastructure, transportation services, intelligent ecology, green and low-carbon and comprehensive management. At the same time, seven key tasks have been deployed this year, including ensuring safety, promoting pilot projects, and deepening smart construction, aiming to write a new chapter in the high-quality development of the Yangtze River shipping and serve the overall situation of building a strong transportation country.

Zhoushan COSCO Shipping Heavy Industries signed a cooperation agreement with the Zhejiang Branch of China Classification Society and issued the first carbon footprint compliance statement for ship repair in the national ship repair industry on the spot. The two sides will focus on intelligent manufacturing, green low-carbon technology applications and other fields to carry out in-depth cooperation, clear 2026-2028 key tasks, is committed to building the industry intelligent manufacturing cooperation demonstration benchmark. This cooperation marks a key breakthrough in the green management of the whole life cycle of ships, and lays a practical foundation for the establishment of industry carbon footprint management standards.

Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng presided over an executive meeting of the municipal government, emphasizing the need to thoroughly implement the spirit of the National Two Sessions, go all out to grasp development, and strive to achieve a "good start" in the first quarter ". The meeting analyzed the economic operation from January to February, and required to grasp the relationship between manufacturing and service industries, goals and problems, development and norms, etc., to stabilize enterprises, solve problems, and prevent "internal rolls". The meeting also agreed in principle to the "Shanghai Global Science and Technology Partnership Program", which aims to build a bridge for global scientific and technological cooperation, deepen the integration of factors, optimize institutional supply, and promote the in-depth implementation of international scientific and technological cooperation.

The article reports the latest progress of the Yangtze River Delta integration in infrastructure, public services and market construction. The first batch of 17 inter-provincial "broken roads" have all been completed, the investment in railway construction is huge, and the efficiency of shipping digitalization and logistics has been significantly improved. In terms of public services, the "One Netcom Office" platform has expanded its functions and realized mutual recognition of electronic licenses. Regional market integration is promoted through collaborative supervision, data sharing and credit chain construction. The article also looks forward to the planning of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period in the unified market, infrastructure and cross-domain development.

On March 20, 2024, the second Chinese-made large-scale cruise ship "Ada Huacheng" was successfully undocked in Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., marking its full transfer to the dock commissioning stage. The cruise ship has a total tonnage of 141900 tons and is scheduled to be delivered before the end of the year. Before the docking, a 7-day water injection, floating, tilting test and full working condition function verification of lifeboats were completed. The total progress of the project has exceeded 94%, and the construction efficiency is 20% higher than that of the first ship. The docking is another important breakthrough in the independent design and construction capacity of China's large cruise ships.

Yemen's Houthi armed forces said they might block the Mandeb Strait to support Iran's fight against US-Israeli military strikes, and only attack ships involved in attacks on Iran and other countries. The Strait of Mande is a key waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It is known as the "water corridor" of the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and has an extremely important strategic position. In history, it is called "the gate of tears" and "the Strait of death" because of its navigation danger. It has been the focus of competition between colonial countries and neighboring countries for a long time. Controlling the Strait can realize the blockade of maritime traffic.

According to the February 2026 data released by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, affected by the Spring Festival holiday and extreme weather, the average time of container ships in China's major ports in port and berthing increased month-on-month, 1.66 days and 0.99 days respectively, but it was still significantly better than the average level of major foreign ports. The operational efficiency of major ports in Europe and the United States was generally stable, with the Port of Hamburg and New York improving, while the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Long Beach increased slightly. The report clarifies the definition of in-port and in-berth and reflects the overall operational efficiency of the port.

After the closure of Hainan Free Trade Port, Yangpu Port has achieved leapfrog growth in the field of characteristic fresh cross-border trade by virtue of its location and policy advantages. The first quarter of this year has not yet ended, and its import fruit business volume has exceeded the total volume of 2025, an increase of 12% over the whole of last year. Relying on the advantages of proximity to Southeast Asian production areas, dense routes and convenient water and water transit, the port has added a number of fresh fruits such as Indonesian mangosteen and Thai longan, with outstanding logistics timeliness. For example, Vietnam durian takes only 2-3 days to reach directly, fully meeting the high-quality consumption demand of the market.

On March 18, the first customized railway train from Haikou to Guangzhou after the closure of Hainan Free Trade Port. The train is fully loaded with Sinopec's deep-processed resin products and strictly follows the customs supervision policy of "second-line ports" after customs closure. The transportation time limit is reduced from 5 days to 2.5 days, realizing end-to-end full-process logistics services within 3 days. This move marks the addition of an efficient, stable and green logistics channel between Hainan and Guangdong, and provides strong support for the connection between Hainan Free Trade Port and the national unified market.

On March 16, 2026, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council presided over the eleventh plenary meeting of the State Council. The core topic of the meeting was to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech during the two sessions of the country, and to make arrangements for the implementation of the key work of the State Council in 2026. The meeting emphasized that in the first year of the "Tenth Five-Year Plan", in the face of the complex and severe internal and external environment, it is necessary to be the executor, action faction, and doer of the Party Central Committee's decision-making and deployment with higher standards, and clarified the three key points of the current work. Directions and six traction key tasks require solid development of learning and education to establish and practice the correct concept of political performance to ensure practical results.

The No. 0 container berth project in Chuanshan Port Area of Ningbo Zhoushan Port was approved by the Ministry of Transport, adding 250 meters of deep water shoreline. The project will build a 30000-ton container berth with a designed annual throughput capacity of 504000 TEUs, which aims to meet the continuous growth of container transportation demand in the hinterland, ease the pressure of full-load operation of the wharf, and inject new momentum into the port's energy level improvement. This move is a key measure for Ningbo Zhoushan Port to tap its capacity and cultivate new growth poles in the core port area.

On March 14, Shandong Ocean Shipping "SMC KLANG" set sail in Qingdao Port and officially joined its Southeast Asian route network. This is the second international feeder ship invested by the "Mountain Port Express" brand, with a rated class of 376TEU. The ship will operate in conjunction with the "SMC QINGDAO" ship to build two boutique branch lines connecting Malaysia's Port Klang to Chittagong in Bangladesh and Beau Bay in Indonesia, forming a "twin route" pattern, aiming to enhance Shandong Ocean's route density and service capability in the RCEP region and provide customers with more efficient and reliable logistics solutions.

During the 2026 Spring Festival, the volume of goods entering and leaving the Yangtze River exceeded 0.4 billion tons, an increase of 6.33 percent over the same period last year, and transportation was safe and stable. Key material support was strong, with coal transportation up 7.69 percent and container traffic up 14.27 percent. Water tourism passenger traffic showed strong growth, with cruise passenger traffic increasing by 18.01 per cent, of which inter-provincial cruise passenger traffic increased by 73.05 per cent. The Three Gorges hub has orderly navigation, with 15.488 million tons of goods passing through and 75.3 percent up in passenger reception.

this article warmly congratulates the successful conclusion of the fourth session of the 14th national people's congress. The article pointed out that the conference was held in the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan", reviewed and approved important documents such as the government work report and the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, and passed laws such as the Ecological Environment Code, with fruitful results. The meeting emphasized that it is necessary to anchor the goals of the "Tenth Five-Year Plan", promote Chinese-style modernization through hard work and innovation, fully and accurately implement the new development concept, adhere to and improve the people's congress system, gather the wisdom of all people, and strive to achieve the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" "A good start.

The Hong Kong Shipowners Association actively responded to the national plan and the work report of the central government, and supported the consolidation of Hong Kong's status as an international shipping, trade and financial center. The article pointed out that the shipping industry is an important pillar of Hong Kong's economy. Song Ruizhi, chairman of the Shipowners' Association, stressed that the industry would strengthen cooperation and give full play to Hong Kong's unique advantages. At the same time, shipowners will promote green decarbonization, smart shipping innovation, and set up a "maritime talent cultivation alliance" to integrate industrial and educational resources. The Budget of the SAR Government has adopted a number of recommendations of the Shipowners' Association, including tax concessions and green ship incentives, to jointly help Hong Kong enhance its strategic position in global shipping.