The amount of freight passing through the navigation lock of the Yangtze River's Three Gorges topped 26.2 million tons in the first quarter of this year, up 7.9 percent from last year and hitting a record high, said an official with Three Gorges Navigation Authority.

By the end of March, the ship lock had been operated 2,577 times, a 7.2 percent increase from the same period last year. Over 10,000 vessels passed through the lock, falling by about 2.3 percent from last year. During the same period, 27,000 passengers also passed through the lock, increasing 127 percent from the same period last year.