In going ahead with the project, the Chinese government agued that the benefits of the Three Gorges Dam outweighed the problems. One of the major benefits has been smoother and faster navigation for ocean-going freighters and fishing boats alike. The widened and deepened waterway between Chongqing and the dam (and onwards towards Shanghai) is expected to speed up the transport of people and goods considerably. Government statistics show that annual freight traffic passing through the Three Gorges region has nearly tripled since 2003 when the reservoir first began storing water. Officials hope this would eventually translate into faster economic growth for towns and cities along the Three Gorges, historically one of the poorest areas in China. Supporters of the dam argue that it can play an instrumental role in downstream flood control, bringing the human and economic toll of the annual floods to a minimum. [Taipingxi, Nov 07 2008.]
