BEIJING — China's waterway freight volume rose 4.2 percent year-on-year in the first four months of the year, data from the Ministry of Transport showed.

Around 2.63 billion metric tons of waterway cargo were transported during this period, according to the ministry.

In April alone, China's waterway freight volume stood at 694.01 million metric tons, the ministry said.

Central China's Hubei province led the expansion among 31 provincial-level regions, reporting a year-on-year growth of 25.1 percent in the January-April period, followed by South China's Hainan province and East China's Jiangsu province.