China launches $11 billion multi‑stage ship lock at Three Gorges Dam to double Yangtze cargo capacity

China has begun construction on a new five‑stage ship lock system at the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydropower project. The "water staircase" will cost roughly €10‑11 billion (US$11 billion) and is scheduled to take 112 months (about nine years). It will feature a 6,680‑metre two‑way channel that can accommodate vessels up to 10,000 tonnes, nearly doubling the dam’s annual cargo throughput to around 336‑370 million tonnes.

The expansion is part of the Yangtze River Economic Belt strategy and the country’s 15th Five‑Year Plan, aiming to reduce logistics costs, alleviate bottlenecks in existing locks, and strengthen inland transport links across the river’s eleven provinces, which serve about half of China’s population and generate over 40 % of national GDP.