The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) recently said China’s fleet of electric cargo ships has grown by 950%, from just four vessels in 2022 to 42 in 2025. According to its latest blog, electrification is rapidly expanding along inland waterways in the country, offering a pathway to cut emissions, improve air quality, and lower operating costs. ICCT said electric cargo ships are entering real-world operation at a rapidly growing pace “Ship types have diversified, from bulk carriers and container ships to multi-purpose cargo ships. At the same time, vessel sizes have grown significantly, with the maximum deadweight tonnage (DWT) rising from around 3,000 tonnes in 2022 to approximately 14,000 tonnes in 2025,” it said. “This indicates that China is testing the feasibility of electrification for increasingly larger ships.” Although battery capacity constraints continue to limit sailing range per charge—which typically hovered between 150 km and 400 km from 2022 to 2025—trends show steady improvement; by 2025, electric cargo ships with a range of up to 500 km were already in operation in China. Inland waterways have become the primary testing ground for electric cargo ship deployment. By the end of 2025, 86% of electric cargo ships in China were operating on internal rivers. “Nine provinces and municipalities have already launched pilot projects, covering major waterways such as the Yangtze River, the Pearl River, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal,” ICCT added. The blog also explored the opportunities, challenges, and policy actions that could accelerate the shift to electric inland shipping. “Developing an enhanced subsidy that favors electric vessels, on top of the current vessel trade-in subsidy program, could help reduce the upfront investment burden for electric vessel adoption,” it recommended. ICCT added that tightening ship engine emission standards toward world-leading levels could increase the compliance costs of conventional-fuel ves