A series of significant national water transport projects have recently entered a phase of accelerated construction. For instance, the Pinglu Canal achieved full water connection on June 3, entering comprehensive water-based debugging. Following this, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Three Gorges Water Transport Passage project was held on June 8.
These major water transport initiatives serve as a crucial support for enhancing cross-regional freight efficiency. Furthermore, they represent a key lever for expanding effective investment and stimulating domestic demand to stabilize economic growth.
As the first major national landmark project to commence construction during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the new Three Gorges Water Transport Passage project involves a static total investment of approximately 77.208 billion yuan.
"The construction cycle for the new Three Gorges Water Transport Passage is long, with a large investment scale," said Zhang Yunchang, a first-level inspector at the Three Gorges Project Management Department of the Ministry of Water Resources. "It involves extensive earthwork excavation and concrete pouring, requiring substantial amounts of bulk raw materials, machinery, and electromechanical equipment. This will have a driving effect on the entire upstream, midstream, and downstream industrial chains and create a significant number of job opportunities."
The Han River Navigation Capacity Enhancement Project, with a total investment of about 209.16 billion yuan, is expected to attract large-scale investments in industries like new energy shipbuilding and circular chemicals upon completion, forming a cyclical driving model of "water transport infrastructure first, followed by industrial investment." The fifth-phase project of Guangzhou Port's Nansha Port Area, with direct infrastructure investment of roughly 14.447 billion yuan, will attract sustained investment from sectors like cross-border e-commerce and port-side equipment manufacturing upon completion, leveraging long-term investment in foreign trade and manufacturing. Major water transport projects support the expansion of effective investment and the stabilization of the domestic demand base by driving demand in upstream and downstream industries through direct infrastructure spending and attracting clusters of related industries via their shipping element aggregation capabilities.
Advancing these major water transport projects is a targeted practice in China to address bottlenecks and congestion points within the water transport network. This is conducive to improving the functional layout of the national high-grade waterway network and world-class port clusters, and accelerating the construction of a modern, high-quality national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network.
The Xijiang Shipping Trunk Line, connecting the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau on one end and reaching the Hong Kong and Macao markets on the other, serves as the "golden waterway" for southwestern cargo to access the sea. As freight traffic in the Pearl River Basin becomes increasingly busy, the navigation capacity at key nodes of the Xijiang Trunk Line is nearing saturation.
Following the completion of the Xijiang (Jieshou to Zhaoqing) 3000-tonnage channel capacity expansion and upgrade project in 2017, the second phase of the Guigang to Wuzhou 3000-tonnage channel project on the Xijiang Shipping Trunk Line was finished in 2024. Construction efforts for the Xijiang Trunk Line's capacity expansion continue, progressing toward the goal of achieving a fully connected 3000-tonnage channel.
The construction of major water transport projects leads to significant improvements in transport capacity. In 2025, the annual cargo volume handled by the Xijiang Ship Lock Joint Dispatch System reached 507 million tons. Among this, the Changzhou Ship Lock handled 224 million tons, maintaining its position as the ship lock on a natural river with the highest annual cargo volume in China.
Pushing forward with major water transport projects is advantageous for fully leveraging water transport's comparative strengths of large capacity, low cost, and low energy consumption, thereby effectively reducing overall logistics costs for society.
On the map of China, the Yangtze River and the Huai River run through Anhui province from south to north, nearly parallel but historically separated by ridges and unable to connect for navigation.
On September 16, 2023, the Jianghuai Canal commenced full-line trial operation, enabling the Yangtze and Huai Rivers to "shake hands" within Anhui. The opening of the canal first brought tangible "logistics dividends."
Taking Fuyang Nanzhao Port as an example, after the canal opened, the shipping distance from Fuyang Nanzhao Port to Hefei Paihe Port was reduced to 247 kilometers, approximately 680 kilometers shorter than before, saving about 5 days. The distance to Tongling Henggang Port Area was shortened by about 435 kilometers, saving roughly 3 days.
The enhancement of transport capacity has facilitated a transformation in business development. "Previously, the port could only handle bulk cargo like building materials and grain. Now, we've switched to containers, allowing goods of various categories like furniture and home appliances to be transported by water," said Yang Feng, General Manager of Fuyang Yingzhou Port Co., Ltd.
Connecting rivers to the sea and linking domestic and international markets, major water transport projects play a vital role in advancing China's high-level opening-up.
On the Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang, the Fodu Container Terminal project within the Liuwu Port Area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is under intense construction, marked by numerous pile drivers and roaring machinery.
The first phase of this project commenced in September 2025, involving the construction of two 200,000-ton-class container berths. Work on drainage plates, onshore pile foundations, and surcharge preloading is in full swing, with a designed annual throughput capacity of 2.01 million TEUs. The second phase will add five more container berths of 200,000-ton-class and below, with a designed annual throughput capacity of 4.59 million TEUs.
"These seven container berths of 200,000-ton-class and below aim to physically resolve the 'throughput constraints' of the core port area," said Han Lu, Chairman of Zhejiang Seaport Fodu Container Terminal Co., Ltd. "In the future, this area will stand alongside the Meishan and Chuanshan port areas, collectively forming the largest and most influential ten-million-TEU-class container berth cluster within Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. It will serve as a solid support for Zhejiang's efforts to forge a world-class strong port."
Looking ahead, how will the construction of major water transport projects proceed to further smooth waterborne transport circulation and continuously aid economic and social development?
"We will further address bottlenecks and congestion points in inland waterway transport, focus on optimizing main trunk lines and major channels, build a modern high-grade waterway network, and enhance the capacity and efficiency of port hubs," stated a relevant official from the Ministry of Transport. Future major water transport projects will further upgrade in the directions of greening, intelligence, and safety. They will continue to leverage water transport's advantages of large capacity, low cost, and low energy consumption, laying a solid water transport foundation for accelerating the construction of a leading transportation nation and achieving high-quality economic and social development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.
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