With the increase of the navigable pressure of main channel in the Yangtze estuary，the waterway regulation project of North Channel has been included in the Yangtze Estuary Waterway Development Plan and Yangtze River Economic Belt Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Corridor Plan (2014—2020).Based on overall mastery of current situation of river regime and navigation-obstructing properties in the North Channel，all kinds of advantages and constraints of channel development in the North Channel are comprehensively analyzed combined with the internal and external situation of Yangtze Estuary waterway development，and then the ideas of channel regulation are discussed further.The analysis result is that North Channel is basically exploitable for waterway transport，but meanwhile which may be limited by the factors of Chongming Dongtan Birds National Nature Reserve，Chinese Sturgeon Nature Reserve and Qingcaosha Reservoir.From the strategic perspective of staged implementation，preliminary ideas on regulation of North Channel are firstly opening the navigation channel with 6 m water depth and then cooperative development with the surrounding needs of building new deepwater port in Hengsha.