been accelerating the construction of national high-grade waterways and has gained fruitful achievements, the country's Ministry of Transport (MOT) reported at a press conference on Friday morning.
A relevant official pointed out that by the end of 2024, the total length of high-grade waterways had reached 16,000 kilometers, an increase of 62 percent compared with 2012.
Over the past decade, the capacity of major waterways, including the Yangtze River, the Xijiang River, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, has been continuously enhanced, the official noted.
Meanwhile, the Jianghan Canal in Central China's Hubei Province and the Jianghuai Canal, which links the Yangtze River and Huai River, have been completed and put into operation, and major projects, such as the Pinglu Canal in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, are advancing rapidly.
the MOT also pointed out that the handling capacity of ports has also been continously improving. Since 2012, an average of 10 berths with a cargo capacity of 10,000 tons or higher have been added annually. By the end of 2024, the number of inland ports with an annual cargo throughput exceeding 100 million tons reached 23, 2.3 times that of 2012.
In addition, the volume of inland waterway freight in 2024 amounted to 4.95 billion tons, 2.2 times the figure recorded in 2012, and the freight turnover was around 2.2 trillion ton-kilometers, 2.9 times the level reported in 2012.
China achieves fruitful results in waterway network development
The Israeli government is set to prohibit 37 international aid organizations from operating in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank effective Jan 1, 2026, after authorities stated the groups failed to comply with stricter registration requirements, according to an Israeli media report on Tuesday.
The report from The Times of Israel cited the statement from Israel's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, saying that the new regulations are based on security concerns aimed at removing non-government organizations' staff allegedly linked to so-called "terrorist organizations."
The report came after the Israeli government announced the same day that it would suspend the activities of several international aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, in the Gaza Strip starting January 1, 2026, citing the organizations' failure to submit information on their Palestinian staff as required.
Last year, Israel rolled out new regulations on registration requiring international aid groups to provide detailed information of their staff's names, funding sources, and operation status.
On Wednesday, Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that the registration mandates were necessary to prevent humanitarian supplies from being exploited by Hamas.
In an online interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Wednesday, Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at Oxfam, a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice, said the impact of the ban will be "devastating."
"It is devastating. We've seen the numbers from the IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) a few weeks ago. We saw them in the summer. There's been a slight improvement, but that's not good enough for the time of a ceasefire. And six months after the famine was declared, we should have seen much more improvement in Gaza," said Khalidi.
"It's winter here in Palestine. It was raining. It rained a record (amount) of rain per millimeter yesterday in Palestine since 1992. So, the impact is devastating. But the fact that shelter materials, for example, cannot enter. For families, this will mean slower repairs. It will mean fewer supplies. It will mean a longer wait for basic services. It will directly affect the access to clean water, to sanitation, to shelter materials, to public health interventions. Aid that should be moving predictably will remain delayed, it will remain restricted and it will remain stranded," she added.
She also emphasized that the operating environment became nearly impossible for organizations to navigate long before the new ban was announced.
"We have been obstructed and blocked from operating freely and unobstructedly for the last two years by Israel. Israel has killed a record number of humanitarian workers in the last two years. It has bombed our premises, it has bombed our convoys, it has blocked our items. It has driven famine like conditions in Gaza because of blocking humanitarian access. So, I think it's really important to set that scene, is that what is happening now is nothing new. It only continues within the kind of campaign that Israel has orchestrated to drive basically the population of Gazans' survival. So, we are, we have not been able to enter any materials in since March, in fact, us and many other organizations. And of course that has severely restricted our ability to scale up our operations," said Khalidi.
Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, said on Wednesday that Israel's move is no different from cutting off lifesaving supplies for the local population, adding that the European Union has made clear that all obstacles to humanitarian access must be lifted.
Israel bans operations of 37 int'l aid groups in Gaza Strip, West Bank
