BEIJING -- China's waterway freight and passenger volumes rose year-on-year in January, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.

Freight volume totaled 679.58 million tons last month, up 3.9 percent from a year ago.

The southernmost province of Hainan saw the biggest increase in waterway freight volume, up 34 percent year-on-year.

In January, waterway passenger trips totaled 9.08 million, up 6.6 percent year-on-year.

Ningxia Hui autonomous region, in the Northwest, reported the sharpest rise in waterway passenger trips, surging 169.6 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.