BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- After a year of trial operations, China has officially launched the Yangtze River shipping data center, marking a significant advancement in using information technology to manage one of the country's busiest waterways.

As a key informatization initiative for Yangtze River shipping management, the data center integrates big data from the Ministry of Transport, the Changjiang River Administration of Navigational Affairs (CRANA), and various shipping management organizations along the river, the CRANA told Xinhua on Monday.

It functions as the "smart brain" of Yangtze River shipping management, serving as the central hub for data exchange and integration across the river's various information systems.

By the end of December 2024, the data center had established a comprehensive resource database covering key elements such as vessels, crew, shipping companies, ports, cargo, waterways, hydrology, and shipping infrastructure. The database contains 1.967 billion records, with an average daily addition of over 600,000 basic data entries and more than 30 million dynamic Automatic Identification System (AIS) data entries, according to the CRANA.

Data has become a vital driver of productivity in the shipping industry, said Liu Liang, director of the CRANA, adding that the new data center will play an important role in accelerating the digital transformation of the entire sector.

In the future, the center will collaborate with shipping management departments, ports, and shipping enterprises along the river to enhance data coverage, promote data sharing, and foster mutual benefits across provinces and cities within the Yangtze River Basin. ■