WUHAN — China will dredge a middle section of the Yangtze to improve waterflow in the country’s longest river.

The National Development and Reform Commission will fully finance the 4 billion-yuan ($635 million) project, making a 386.5 km-long waterway on the river suitable for heavy freight liners.

Under the plan, by 2019 the waterway between Wuhan, capital of Central China’s Hubei province, and Anqing city in East China’s Anhui province will be dredged to reach a minimum depth of 6 meters and 200 meters in width to allow 10,000-ton ships to travel from the estuary to the river’s middle reaches in Wuhan, and 5,000-ton ships to go further inland to Yichang city in Hubei province.

China issued a guideline for the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in 2017. It is among a series of measures to build world-class industrial clusters manufacturing electronics, high-end equipment, automobiles, home appliances and clothing along the river.