China's Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Railways signed an agreement on May 10 to jointly promote the development of China's combined rail-waterway transportation network.

As a concrete step in the establishment of a fully integrated transportation system, the agreement will increase efficiency, cut costs and contribute to China's efforts to save energy and reduce carbon emissions, said Li Shenglin, Minister of Transport.

The two ministries will increase the construction of needed infrastructure and create supportive policies and regulations for the network, said Wong Mengyong, Vice Minister of Transport.

Wong said the number of shipping containers handled through China's combined rail-waterway transportation network is less than 2 percent of the total amount of containers handled at the country's ports.