BEIJING, June 26 -- China recorded a steady growth in waterway freight volume in the first five months of 2024, the Ministry of Transport said Wednesday.

From January to May, approximately 3.9 billion tonnes of cargo was transported via waterways across the country, marking a 7 percent increase year on year, said Vice Minister Fu Xuyin at a press conference.

Container throughput at ports nationwide exceeded 130 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) during the period, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier, Fu said.

Fu added that building "smart ports" is a top priority for China's waterway transport development, with efforts underway to accelerate the automation of various port facilities. Currently, the country has set up 21 container ports and 28 dry bulk ports that operate automatically.

During the first five months of this year, the country's fixed-asset investment in waterway transport reached 78.6 billion yuan (about 11.1 billion U.S. dollars), increasing 7.2 percent year on year and remaining at a high level, he said.

The investment has funded major infrastructure projects such as the Pinglu Canal, which is expected to strengthen connectivity between south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Southeast Asian countries, according to the vice minister.

China's waterway freight volume hit an annual record high of about 9.4 billion tonnes in 2023, data from the transport ministry showed.