NANNING-- South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is planning to quadruple the throughput of its river ports to 150 million tonnes by 2015, sources with the region's government said Friday.

The government of Guangxi said it will speed up the overhaul and upgrade of its ports on the main stream and tributaries of the Xijiang River in the lead up to the project's proposed completion in 2015.

In 2008, the government proposed converting 1,480 km of the river into a Golden Waterway harboring seven ports.

As of June this year, the seven ports have a combined throughput of 37.4 million tons, according to figures released by the Guangxi government.

Upon completion of the project, the Guigang Port will have the largest throughput at 72 million tons, and the throughput of the other six ports will range from 2.8 to 21 million tons, according to local officials.