[SMM Hydrogen Energy Policy Express] Six Ministries and Commissions: Develop New Energy and Clean Energy Ships, Promote the Application of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Technology

Recently, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Inland Waterway Transport.

The document emphasizes developing new energy and clean energy vessels. It calls for active R&D of green ship propulsion technologies and accelerating the establishment of technical standards for green intelligent ships. Battery-powered technologies should be rapidly applied to small and medium-sized vessels and short-distance transport scenarios, with encouragement for large-scale adoption of electric ships on fixed routes and schedules. LNG and methanol propulsion technologies should be actively promoted for medium and large vessels and medium-to-long-distance transport scenarios, while exploring hydrogen fuel cell applications. Infrastructure for new energy/clean energy refueling, charging, and battery swapping should be developed, alongside improving ship fuel supply operations and safety supervision systems. Standards for charging facility construction should be expedited. Preferential policies such as priority berthing and lock passage for clean energy vessels should be implemented. Accelerate the phase-out of high-energy-consumption, high-emission obsolete vessels and research the formulation of "Ship Exhaust Smoke Limit Values and Measurement Methods."

Build green low-carbon ports. Accelerate the application of green port technologies, promote the use of green electricity, hydrogen, LNG and other new/clean energy for port machinery and intra-port transport equipment, encourage distributed energy systems, and construct near-zero-carbon inland terminals. Regularize the long-term pollution prevention mechanism for ships and ports in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Increase the proportion of clean transportation for bulk cargo (coal, coke, iron ore) at inland ports, prioritizing clean transport modes for newly built or expanded port areas. Locally adapt policies to prioritize new energy equipment for port machinery and vehicles where feasible. Prudently advance dust suppression facilities and fully enclosed upgrades at dry bulk terminals. Ensure oil vapor recovery systems are installed on all applicable oil tankers and terminals. Legally mandate shore power usage for berthed vessels.

 Full text follows:

Opinions of the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and Ministry of Water Resources on Promoting High-Quality Development of Inland Waterway Transport

Jiao Shui Fa [2025] No. 60

To: Transportation Departments (Bureaus/Commissions) of Provinces, Autonomous Regions, Municipalities Directly Under the Central Government, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; Industry and Information Technology Authorities; Finance Departments (Bureaus); Natural Resources Departments (Bureaus); Ecology and Environment Departments (Bureaus); Water Resources (Water Affairs) Departments (Bureaus); All Subordinate Units of the Ministry of Transport; All Departments and Bureaus Within the Ministry:

To thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important directives on inland waterway development, execute the decisions of the CPC Central Committee and State Council, effectively reduce overall logistics costs, and promote high-quality development of inland shipping, the following opinions are hereby proposed.

I. General Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee. We will focus on accelerating the construction of a strong transportation country, striving to promote the high-quality development of inland waterway shipping, accelerating the networking of water transportation, optimizing the transportation structure, and enhancing the level of transportation services. We will promote green, low-carbon, digital, and intelligent transformation, facilitate the integration of inland waterway shipping with modern industrial economy, and accelerate the construction of a modern inland waterway shipping system that is smooth, efficient, green, intelligent, safe, resilient, and well-supported, to better serve economic and social development.

By 2030, the level of intelligence and networking of waterways will be significantly improved, with the coverage rate of electronic navigation charts for high-grade waterways reaching 85%. The role of ports as comprehensive transportation hubs will be significantly enhanced, with the collection and distribution system becoming more complete. Main ports along the Yangtze River trunk line will achieve 100% railway coverage. A number of large-scale and modern port and shipping enterprises will be cultivated, the structure of shipping capacity will be effectively improved, and the average net deadweight tonnage of motorized cargo ships in inland waterways nationwide will exceed 1,900 mt. The proportion of new ships using new energy and clean energy will be further increased. The pilot area for high-quality development of inland waterway shipping in the Yangtze River Delta will be basically completed. The share of inland waterway freight volume and cargo turnover in the comprehensive transportation system will be further increased.

II. Main Tasks

(1) Enhance the level of facilities and equipment to lay a solid foundation for high-quality development

1. Improve the service level of smooth waterway networks. Implement the connectivity project of the inland waterway transportation system, accelerate the construction of trunk and branch waterway networks, remove bottlenecks, and vigorously promote the upgrading of inland waterway transportation networks in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. Strengthen the maintenance of waterways, navigation structures, and shipping hub dams, and optimize the operation and scheduling of navigation structures. Promote the improvement of mobile communication network coverage for high-grade inland waterways and accelerate the formation of a "unified map" of electronic navigation charts for national high-grade waterways. Improve the service functions of waterways, strengthen the construction and management of anchorages, enhance the guarantee capacity of anchorages for dangerous goods ships along the Yangtze River, and create a number of fully functional and efficient water service areas.

2. Strengthen the function of ports as comprehensive transportation hubs. Focusing on main inland ports, we will strengthen the aggregation of resources and elements, and enhance the hub functions based on the comprehensive transportation system. We will accelerate the completion of the "last mile" of railway access to ports, develop a collection and distribution system that integrates various transportation modes, and improve the level of facility connectivity. We will coordinate the acceleration of the construction, reconstruction, and expansion of port terminals, revitalize existing resources, optimize incremental resources, and promote intensive and large-scale development. We will support the deepening of market cooperation between inter-provincial ports, promote the coordinated development of regional ports, and accelerate the cultivation of port clusters in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

3. Enhance the standardization and specialization of vessels. In light of the infrastructure conditions of ports and waterways, systematically promote the development of large-scale inland vessels. Optimize the navigation standards for inland waterways and the design specifications for ship locks, formulate and publish a catalog of inland vessel types such as green and intelligent vessels, and guide the application of standardized and serialized vessel types that meet the needs of different application scenarios. Accelerate the scrappage and renewal of aging operational vessels, vigorously develop specialized transport vessels such as container ships and ro-ro ships for commodity cars, and optimize the structure of vessel transport capacity. Promote the standardization of vessel markings and enhance the energy efficiency management of inland vessels.

(II) Enhance the level of transport services and strengthen the effectiveness of high-quality development

4. Stimulate the vitality of market operators. Guide port and shipping enterprises to extend their upstream and downstream businesses, provide "end-to-end" supply chain services such as multimodal transport, logistics subcontracting, and warehousing and distribution, and transform into full-process logistics operators and comprehensive transport service providers. Vigorously cultivate and develop specialized, refined, unique, and innovative small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, encourage mergers and reorganizations centered around vessel assets, and achieve strong, excellent, and differentiated development. Strengthen the release of market transport capacity and freight rate information, study and establish a market supply and demand early warning mechanism, and reasonably guide the orderly deployment of vessel transport capacity in line with market demand.

5. Develop inland waterway network freight platforms. Systematically develop inland waterway network freight platforms that integrate functions such as ship-cargo matching transactions and intermodal transport services, and promote the intensive and large-scale development of transport. Support qualified regions to take the lead in exploration and encourage relevant port and shipping enterprises to carry out waterway cargo transport business through network platforms. Study and establish a management system adapted to the development of new business formats, and promote the standardized and healthy development of the platform economy. Improve the functions of public shipping service platforms in river basins and regions such as "Yangtze River e+", and strengthen the support of public data resources such as ports, waterways, vessels, and maritime affairs.

6. Strengthen the management of waterway passenger transport. Encourage shipping companies to increase safety investments in passenger vessel facilities and equipment to enhance their intrinsic safety levels. Strengthen market access management, implement safety supervision measures such as "one policy per route" for specific routes and "one policy per area" for key waters, strictly enforce measures to prohibit or restrict navigation in severe weather conditions, implement real-name boarding requirements, strengthen security checks and hazard prevention at passenger ports, and prevent and mitigate major risks associated with passenger vessels. Implement the local responsibility for the safety of inland river ferries and ferryboats in accordance with the law, and build a safe ferry transport system.

7. Accelerate the development of the shipping service industry. Actively develop traditional shipping service industries such as vessel management, vessel agency, freight forwarding, and vessel brokerage, and promote their large-scale, standardized, and digital development. Enhance the basic service capabilities of the Chongqing Upper Yangtze River Shipping Center and the Wuhan Middle Yangtze River Shipping Center in areas such as vessel trading and shipping information consulting, and actively develop modern shipping service industries such as shipping finance and shipping insurance. We will leverage the river-sea combined transportation service functions of Nanjing as a regional shipping and logistics center, Wuhu-Ma'anshan as a river-sea combined transportation hub, and Zhoushan as a river-sea combined transportation service center to create a regional shipping service cluster.

8. Establish a unified and open market. We will regulate enterprise charging practices in accordance with the law to prevent unreasonable fees from being imposed by abusing dominant market positions. We will clear up various regulations and practices that hinder the establishment of a unified market and fair competition in inland river shipping, and promote the free flow and equal use of factors of production. We will strengthen the standardized and normalized construction of market supervision to promote fair and unified market supervision. We will establish and improve a cross-regional and cross-departmental joint law enforcement mechanism.

(III) Improve transportation organization efficiency and expand the space for high-quality development

9. Vigorously develop water-to-water transfer. We will optimize the river-sea combined transportation system along main routes such as the Yangtze River and the Xijiang River, develop a number of key combined transportation ports, and cultivate a number of river-sea combined transportation brand routes. We will improve the river (or river-sea) combined transportation system in the water network areas of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, enhance the functions of terminal facilities, and improve combined transportation efficiency. We will study and expand the scope and types of cargo for direct river-sea combined transportation on specific routes, and actively leverage the river-sea combined transportation functions of newly built sea-access channels such as the Pinglu Canal and the Xiaoqing River.

10. Strengthen the integrated connection of comprehensive transportation. We will accelerate the construction of port multimodal transportation transfer facilities and collection and distribution systems, and strengthen the organic connection between inland river shipping and other modes of transportation. We will promote the alignment of rules and standards between inland river shipping and international maritime shipping, road, and railway transportation, advance the "paperless" processing of operation documents and online business handling, strengthen information exchange and data sharing, and promote "one-document-throughout" combined transportation. We will encourage the implementation of "bulk-to-container" conversion at the source of factory parks and develop inland river container transportation. We will strengthen the connection between vessel schedules and railway transportation plans to improve the organization efficiency of combined transportation of containers and bulk cargo by pig iron and railway.

11. Develop fleet transportation according to local conditions. We will support innovative development of green and efficient push fleets in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Heilongjiang River, and other areas, promote their large-scale application, and develop fixed-route fleet transportation for bulk cargo. We will encourage water network areas such as the Yangtze River Delta to actively cultivate fleet operators and explore the development of a combined transportation mode of motor vessels and barges. We will guide other qualified regions to develop fleet transportation according to local conditions, taking into account navigation conditions and cargo sources. We will promote the research and demonstration application of vessel formation navigation technology.

(IV) Accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation and lay a solid foundation for high-quality development

12. Develop new energy and clean energy vessels. We will actively research and develop green vessel power technologies and accelerate the establishment of a technical specification system for green and intelligent vessels. We will accelerate the application of battery power technology in small and medium-sized vessels and for short-to-medium distance transportation, and encourage the large-scale application of scheduled and fixed-route electric vessels. We will actively promote the application of LNG and methanol power technologies in medium-to-large ships and for medium-to-long distance transportation scenarios, and explore the application of hydrogen fuel cell power technology. We will promote the construction of refueling, charging, and battery swapping facilities for new energy and clean energy, improve the ship fuel refueling operation and safety supervision system, and accelerate the formulation of standards for charging facility construction. We will encourage the implementation of supportive policies such as giving priority to new energy and clean energy ships in docking and departure, as well as in passing through locks. We will accelerate the phase-out of old, high-energy-consuming, and high-emission transport ships, and study and formulate the "Limits and Measurement Methods for Ship Exhaust Smoke Density."

13. Build green and low-carbon ports. We will accelerate the application of green and low-carbon technologies in ports, promote the use of new energy and clean energy such as green electricity, hydrogen, and LNG in port machinery and in-port transport equipment, encourage the development of distributed energy sources, and construct near-zero-carbon inland river terminals. We will normalize the operation of the long-term mechanism for preventing and controlling ship and port pollution in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. We will increase the proportion of clean transportation for the collection, distribution, and transportation of bulk cargoes such as coal, coke, and iron ore in inland river ports, and give priority to adopting clean transportation methods in newly constructed, reconstructed, and expanded port areas. We will promote the priority use of new energy in newly added and replaced operational machinery and in-port vehicles in ports with suitable conditions, according to local circumstances. We will steadily and orderly promote the construction of dust suppression facilities and fully enclosed renovations for dry bulk cargo specialized terminals. We will promote the installation of oil and gas recovery facilities on oil tankers and terminals wherever possible. We will legally promote the use of shore power by ships when docking.

14. Build green and beautiful waterways. We will actively promote the construction and maintenance of green waterways, strictly implement ecological protection and restoration measures, research and apply new structures, materials, processes, and equipment, and carry out waterway regulation, maintenance dredging sand, and comprehensive utilization of construction earth and stone in an orderly and lawful manner. We will encourage regions with suitable conditions to build beautiful waterways according to local circumstances, and organize and carry out the construction action of "beautiful waterways" with the connotation of beautiful facilities, beautiful environment, beautiful services, and beautiful culture.

(V) Promote intelligent and innovative development to enhance the driving force for high-quality development

15. Promote the intelligence of facilities and equipment. We will study and formulate evaluation standards for the construction of smart ports and smart waterways, promote the application of intelligent sensing equipment, digital twin technology, and other technologies in high-grade waterways and eligible main inland river ports, and promote the digitalization and intelligence of port and waterway infrastructure. We will vigorously develop intelligent inland river shipping, strengthen the system integration of ports, waterways, and ships, actively research and develop intelligent auxiliary systems for ships and ship-shore coordination technologies, study the new ship navigation mode of "shore-based driving control and ship-end monitoring," and encourage eligible regions to designate suitable navigation sections for the development of intelligent shipping routes based on actual conditions.

16. Promote the intelligence of operational services. We will focus on improving the automation and intelligence levels of container and bulk cargo operations in main ports, and innovate port data services. We will promote joint scheduling of ships passing through navigation structures across regions, and popularize new models of intelligent ship-passing services and intelligent lock management. Relying on technologies such as full-process digital certificates and blockchain, we will vigorously promote the digital development of shipping trade and expand and enrich application scenarios.

17. Promote intelligent industry management. We will improve the monitoring mechanism for port and waterway operations, make full use of intelligent supervision methods to achieve visibility, controllability, commandability, and schedulability in daily supervision and emergency response. We will actively promote "Internet + supervision" to enhance the efficiency of industry supervision. We will promote the application of "intelligent customs checkpoints" and "AI-powered intelligent ship monitoring" to improve the level of ship safety supervision. Relying on national information-sharing platforms, we will promote cross-departmental and cross-industry data sharing, and implement mutual recognition of supervision and collaborative law enforcement.

(VI) Strengthen integration with economic industries to enhance the vitality of high-quality development

18. Serve regional economic development. We will leverage the roles of the golden waterways of the Yangtze River and Xijiang River, as well as the major channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, to promote the upgrading of traditional industries and the development of emerging industries along the rivers, serving the implementation of major national regional strategies such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the integration of the Yangtze River Delta. We will actively construct waterway channels connecting inland areas to the sea in the central and western regions to support the rise of the central region and the development of the western region. We will promote the development of newly built canals such as the JAC and Pinglu Canals, relying on inland shipping to support and serve the economic development of river basins. We will strengthen the comprehensive development, utilization, and maintenance management of waterways in international rivers along national borders to support the development and opening-up of border areas.

19. Promote coordinated development of ports, industries, and cities. We will encourage inland port enterprises to expand their port market hinterlands and promote the development of upstream and downstream industries such as bulk commodity trading, agricultural product processing, and cross-border e-commerce. We will leverage the role of inland shipping in providing transportation guarantees for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries such as petrochemicals, chemicals, metallurgy, and building materials, and actively serve the development of emerging industries such as new energy vehicles (NEVs) and power batteries. We will strengthen the connection between inland shipping and key port-adjacent industries and the logistics industry, and promote the realization of "connecting ports to parks" through short branch waterways in qualified regions.

20. Promote the integration of transportation and tourism. We will strengthen the construction of passenger port terminals, improve waiting facilities for ships, and enhance the quality of port passenger services. We will promote the construction of tourism waterways, improve the functions and service standards of water tourism facilities, and continuously enhance the quality of inland river tourism passenger services. We will strengthen the protection of the shipping historical culture and landscape resources of ancient canals, fully explore the cultural and tourism value of inland shipping. Combining new hotspots and demands in cultural and tourism consumption, we will actively develop cruise tourism products such as urban landscape tours, natural landscape tours, and featured cultural tours, and cultivate featured brands integrating transportation and tourism.

(VII) Enhance industry governance capabilities and create an environment for high-quality development

21. Consolidate the foundation of industry governance. Improve the legal and regulatory framework, promote the revision of the Port Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations on the Administration of Waterways of the People's Republic of China, and the Regulations on the Administration of Inland Waterway Traffic Safety of the People's Republic of China, and drive the improvement of the local water transport regulatory framework. Accelerate the improvement of the inland waterway shipping standards system. Establish and improve a new-type credit-based regulatory mechanism, strengthen the application of credit results, and implement the "double random, one public" regulatory system. Build an efficient maritime regulatory system and further promote the integration of maritime regulation, service, and support. Give full play to the role of industry associations, strengthen industry self-regulation, and promote collaborative governance and sharing within the industry.

22. Ensure the safety of industry development. Promote the construction of safe waterways, coordinate the development of waterways, bridges, and vessels, strengthen the management of safety risks and hidden dangers in key waters such as bridge areas, and prevent and mitigate safety risks related to vessel-bridge collisions and obstruction of river flood discharge. Deepen the construction of safe ports, continuously strengthen the safety management of hazardous cargo port operations, and implement the dual prevention mechanism of risk classification and control and hidden danger investigation and treatment in production safety. Strengthen transportation safety management, enhance the construction of standardized production safety, and implement hierarchical and classified management of key enterprises. Improve emergency rescue capabilities, strengthen the construction and layout of emergency rescue bases in key waters such as reservoir and lake areas, enhance inland deep-water emergency rescue capabilities, and establish an emergency rescue cooperation mechanism featuring linkage between main and tributary waterways and inter-provincial coordination.

23. Strengthen talent and cultural development. Strengthen the cultivation of leading scientific and technological talents and build a workforce of high-quality laborers. Strengthen vocational education and earnestly implement the water transport vocational qualification system. Encourage shipping companies to increase investment in seafarer training, improve the quality and professionalism of inland waterway seafarers, promote inland waterway shipping enterprises to establish a stable seafarer workforce, and increase the proportion of in-house seafarers. Strengthen the construction of transportation administration management and waterway traffic law enforcement teams. Build high-end think tanks for shipping and actively cultivate strategic talents for industry development. Strengthen industry cultural development and vigorously promote the spirit of transportation in the new era. Strengthen the cultivation and promotion of advanced models, enrich shipping cultural services and products, and enhance the sense of gain for the people.

III. Supportive Measures

Departments at all levels, including transportation, industry and information technology, finance, natural resources, ecological environment, and water resources, should strengthen coordination, leverage the enthusiasm of both the central and local governments, provide financial support and essential elements, and jointly promote the high-quality development of inland waterway shipping. Encourage localities to innovate in comprehensive waterway development models, actively expand investment and financing channels, deepen the promotion of electricity-driven shipping, and actively attract social capital to participate in investment and operation. Encourage various regions to actively apply for pilot projects in the construction of a transportation powerhouse centered around the high-quality development of inland waterway shipping, leading and driving the high-quality development of inland waterway shipping nationwide.

Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Ministry of Water Resources

May 29, 2025

(This document is publicly released)

CC: China Shipowners' Association, China Ports Association, China Waterborne Transportation Construction Industry Association, China Dredging Association, Shanghai Combined Port Management Committee Office, Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Group of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission Stationed at the Ministry of Transport, Audit Office of Transport under the National Audit Office.

Source: Ministry of Transport