Recently, the General Office of Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued the Implementation Plan for Building Shanghai as a Pioneer Area for High-Quality Development of Inland Waterway Shipping in the Yangtze River Delta and Implementing the Inland Waterway System Connectivity Project (2026–2030) (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan").

The Implementation Plan sets the goal that by 2030, the mileage of Grade III and above waterways will reach 280 kilometres, and a number of intensive public inland port zones will be completed. The capacity of the container river‑sea through corridor for Shanghai Port will be upgraded and expanded, with the proportion of waterborne collection and distribution for domestic container segments reaching 35%. The green and smart development of inland waterway shipping will be significantly enhanced, forming an integrated river‑sea‑river intermodal network, and achieving large‑scale development of waterway passenger tourism.

It is noted that the connectivity of the waterway system primarily focuses on major projects to open up new passages linking the river with the sea. At present, the proportion of high‑grade inland waterways in Shanghai is relatively low, and waterway connectivity is inadequate—for instance, due to incomplete waterways, inland vessels bound for Yangshan Port must detour via Wusongkou, adding about 70 kilometres to their voyage. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of a number of major projects to establish an integrated river‑sea‑river intermodal network as soon as possible.

The Implementation Plan specifies that waterway construction should focus on network supplementation and interconnection. Efforts will be accelerated on major projects such as the eastern extension of the Dalu Line and the reconstruction of the Dazhihe West Junction, and the construction of waterways including Youdun Port and Luowen River will be advanced. The aim is to remove bottlenecks and upgrade constricted sections, creating an inland waterway system that "connects provinces and reaches the sea". Port construction should focus on quality and efficiency improvement. The construction of the Xiaoyangshan North Operation Area and other projects will be expedited, the implementation of planned public inland port zones will be promoted, and the adjustment and renovation of existing inland terminals will be advanced. At the same time, supporting port collection and distribution facilities will be improved, the match between port capacity and waterway grades will be strengthened, and the specialisation, scale and intensification of inland port zones will be effectively enhanced.

In addition, the Implementation Plan highlights green and low‑carbon development. It will continue to expand the application of battery‑power technology in small and medium‑sized vessels and short‑to‑medium‑distance transport scenarios, actively explore pilot applications of clean energy technologies such as methanol power, and comprehensively accelerate the green and low‑carbon transition of inland waterway shipping. It also emphasises digital empowerment, with accelerated development of digital infrastructure including waterway sensing systems and electronic nautical chart systems to improve dynamic monitoring, intelligent dispatching and information service capabilities, achieving "one‑time declaration, smooth navigation across the entire region", enabling data to do more travelling and vessels to take fewer detours. At the same time, great importance is attached to fostering leading enterprises, with efforts to expand the scale of the river‑sea‑river direct vessel fleet and promote scaled and high‑quality development of the industry.