China has teamed up with Russia and Japan to efficiently use a marine shipping route, which is dubbed the "marine Silk Road," connecting northeast China's Heilongjiang Province with the northern ports of Japan.

The route starts from the Songhuajiang and Heilongjiang rivers in Heilongjiang Province, stretches through the Amur River and Tatar Strait in Russia and the Sea of Japan and ends at ports in northern Japan.

Luo Tao, head of the water system office for Heilongjiang, Songhuajiang and Liaohe rivers under the Chinese Ministry of Communications, said in the coming 10 years China will make a total investment of several billion yuan (240.96 million to 1.08 billion US dollars) in harnessing the rivers related to the "marine Silk Road," purchasing special vessels and building shipping hubs and large harbors. These efforts will enable rivers in the eastern part of Heilongjiang to accommodate 3,000-dwt ships and help the Chinese ship fleet have an annual cargo transport capacity of 1.2 million tons, up 10-fold from the current level.

Incentives will be worked out to use the 2,800-km-long river-sea route in a more efficient manner, according to Luo.

Ma Jie, deputy director of the provincial shipping administration of Heilongjiang, said the route opened to traffic in 1992. In 12 years only 54,000 tons of cargo were shipped along the route as against its annual shipping capacity of 500,000 tons.

Chen Xuele, a Chinese shipping expert, attributed the low usage to the unimproved water route and high transportation costs.

After the river harnessing and related infrastructure construction projects are completed, Heilongjiang of China will enjoy easy, low-cost access to Japan for its exports in bulk; Japan will acquire a stable source for labor-intensive products; and Russia will earn a great deal of service charges on the "marine Silk Road," Chen said.

Source: Xinhua