A view of Huzhou, East China;s Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province recently issued the nation's first comprehensive inland river vessel certificate, local media reported.

The certificate integrates the functions of six certificates, including domestic water transport business permit and vessel ownership registration certificate, required for an inland vessel.

Huzhou has since 2018 been exploring the integration of certificates for inland cargo ships. It has rolled out a unified certificate which is applied only in Zhejiang.

The new certificate, which has been promoted in the Yangtze River Delta and mutually recognized by the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui as well as Shanghai municipality, also has a digital version. Vessel owners and law enforcement officers can simply scan a code to obtain certificate information.

In addition, the time required to apply for the certificate has been decreased from the original 29 work days to seven.