A photo taken on Nov 13 shows the gate of the Three Gorges Shiplift on the Yangtze River in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province. [Photo/CRI]

YICHANG - The permanent shiplift at China's Three Gorges Dam started its round-the-clock operations on Friday after its first phase of two-month trial operation ended.

The shiplift began trials in September and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The round-the-clock trial will last until the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir falls to 145 meters, said the Three Gorges Navigation Authority.

Tests for night operations were conducted one week ago.

The shiplift, designed by a Chinese and German team, is the largest and most sophisticated in the world, according to the China Three Gorges Corp.

It has been installed to complement the five-tier ship lock next to it, for the world's largest hydropower project on the Yangtze River, China's longest. The trial operation will last one year.

The vertical-hoisting elevator helps ships with a maximum displacement of 3,000 tonnes, to traverse the dam. The water level behind the dam is up to 113 meters higher than the downstream river.