China has launched a safety overhaul of its inland shipping lanes, aiming to slash waterway transport accidents by more than 50 percent by 2030.

Guidelines on the action, jointly released by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Emergency Management on July 3, call for major improvements in safety, management and emergency response capacity.

They also mandate stricter quality controls for vessels, upgraded green-energy infrastructure and tighter corporate oversight to raise safety standards across the entire shipping sector.

By the end of this year, prefecture-level cities should establish severe-weather warning and response mechanisms for passenger routes and close routes and ferry crossings that fail safety assessments. By the end of next year, key water transport areas should have effective emergency standby coverage, while response times at major inland ports and key waterway sections should be reduced to within 45 minutes.

China sets stricter safety and emergency management guidelines for inland waterways