The Pearl River Administration of Navigational Affairs under the Ministry of Transport has vowed to speed up construction of environmentally friendly "green model channels" along the waterway to protect the ecology of the country's third-longest river system.

According to the administration's development plan, three such environmentally sustainable river channels will be constructed before 2020.

In addition to having environmentally friendly designs, management and maintenance, the channels will also feature native vegetation and technology to help protect the waterway's ecological condition.

"Environmentally friendly technologies and equipment will also be used to dredge the water channels," said Li Yongheng, deputy director of the administration.

"And the construction of the river channels will also be required to be in harmony with the surrounding landscapes and architecture," Li told a news conference in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Monday.

Meanwhile, major ports along the Pearl River will be required to switch to electricity or natural gas as feedstock — as a substitute for petroleum — to reduce air pollution. New and improved environmental protection technologies and equipment will also be introduced in river port expansion projects in the coming years while emissions from vessels operating on the Pearl River are required to meet State requirements before 2020, Li said.

The construction of green model channels aims to better serve the economic construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the entire Pearl River Basin, he said.

"Water channels help reduce transportation and production costs and raise efficiency, especially if they are regularly dredged, and thereby benefit economic cooperation and development along the Pearl River and its tributaries," he added.

The Pearl River runs through six provinces and one autonomous region.

Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions are also located in its delta.

Last year, freight volume on the Pearl River reached 906 million metric tons, up 8.7 percent year-on-year. It was the first time it surpassed 900 million metric tons.