WUHAN, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's longest river, the Yangtze, saw throughput on its main waterway reach 2.5 billion tonnes in 2017, up 8.2 percent.

According to the Yangtze River Navigational Affairs Administration under the Ministry of Transport, Yangtze is the world's busiest inland river in terms of main waterway cargo volume.

The throughput at the ship locks of the Three Gorges hydropower project reached a record high of 138 million tonnes in 2017, about 40 percent higher than its designed capacity.

The average tonnage of cargo ships on the main waterway has grown to 1,630 tonnes and the average tonnage of cargo ships passing through the Three Gorges locks 4,330 tonnes.

Serving the Yangtze River economic belt, the river authorities are focusing on green development and fighting illegal sand exploitation. Efforts have also been made to unify administration and services along the river, he said.