The ports along the trunk stream of the Yangtze River, China's longest and the world's third-longest river, are expected to handle a record 4.02 billion tons of cargo in 2024, an official from the administration of navigational affairs on the river under the Ministry of Transport said at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.
Such figure marks a 3.9-percent year-on-year growth which cements the Yangtze River's position as the busiest inland waterway in the world, the official said.
The Yangtze River now boasts 16 major ports, each with an annual cargo throughput exceeding 100 million tons.
The record has effectively demonstrated the strong resilience and market vitality of the Yangtze River shipping, with policies strongly supporting the development of multi modal transportation.
The government's efforts have led to a significant increase in the proportion of road-to-water and rail-water multi modal transport, greatly reducing the logistics costs for enterprises, the official said.
The record cargo throughput on the Yangtze River highlights China's economic resilience and the success of its policies in promoting efficient and cost-effective transportation solutions along this vital inland waterway.
Yangtze River cargo throughput to surpass 4 billion tons
Japan's second-largest airline was hit by a cyberattack Thursday, causing multiple flight delays and cancellations and bringing inconvenience to tourists during a traditional year-end busy travel season.
Japan Airlines said its network system started malfunctioning from around 7:25 Thursday, and the problems were fixed before 14:20 but the related impacts lasted.
By 16:30 Thursday, three domestic flights were canceled and a total of 64 domestic and international flights were delayed for over 30 minutes, with the longest being more than four hours.
At the Haneda Airport in Tokyo, many flights were delayed or rescheduled. Travelers said the sudden malfunction of the carrier's network system caught them off guard, leaving them in shock and confusion.
"I was heading for a concert, but my flight has been delayed by about 40 minutes. The airline company's network system was attacked, which is really a shock to me," said a passenger.
"We have been unable to check in yet, and the airline company has not offered us a specific solution," said another traveler.
The airports in Japan's Kansai, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Okinawa also saw flights of Japan Airlines delayed, including those to China.
Japan Airlines is the second largest airline in Japan after All Nippon Airways (ANA). After the news of the cyberattack came out, the company's stock price fell 2.5 percent on Thursday before recovering slightly.
The flight disruption also delayed mail and parcel deliveries across Japan, said Japan Post.
Cyberattack on Japan's airline cause flight delays, cancellations
