About 1.5 billion tons of cargo passed through the trunk line of Yangtze River in 2010, People's Daily reported Wednesday. The data came from a report released on Monday by the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Administration of Navigational Affairs under the authority of the Ministry of Transport.

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According to the report, Yangtze River's total cargo throughput ranks first in the world. The amount is more than three times that of the Mississippi River in the US and five times higher than from the Rhein River in Europe, the newspaper reported.

Yangtze River shipping has contributed 120 billion yuan directly and 2 trillion yuan indirectly to the economic and social development of areas along the Yangtze River. It directly employed more than 2 million people and indirectly provided jobs for more than 10 million employees, according to the report.

Shipping capacity on the trunk line of Yangtze River has increased sharply during the 11th Five Year Plan (2006-2010) period. The port construction also made significant progress. The Yangtze River's truck line has six ports with capacities of 100 million tons, including Suzhou, Nantong, Jiangyin, Nanjing, Zhenjiang ports and Wuhan Newport.