China's "15th Five-Year Plan" period (2026-2030) coordinates hard investments and soft systems to advance major national strategies and security capacity projects, deploying 109 key initiatives. In April, the Central Political Bureau proposed accelerating the construction of six networks: water, new-type power grids, computing, next-generation communications, urban underground pipelines, and logistics. Halfway through the first year, how are these projects progressing, and how will they transform daily life?
In late July, reporters visited a construction site near the Three Gorges Dam, less than 2 kilometers away, where the first phase of the Three Gorges New Navigation Channel has begun. The area currently appears as an empty plot with no visible water transport features, but within 10 years, a 6.6-kilometer channel will be built. It will feature five-level ship locks, with each lock chamber measuring 280 meters long and 40 meters wide—equivalent to two standard football fields—and a minimum navigable depth of 8 meters, capable of accommodating 10,000-ton vessels. Gao Peng, Deputy Chief Engineer of China Three Gorges Corporation and Executive Director and Party Secretary of the Three Gorges New Channel Company, stated: "Logistically, it will save society nearly 16 billion yuan annually in costs, with far-reaching impacts on the flow of resources along the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the adjustment of major production layouts."
During the initial construction of the Three Gorges Project, the dual-line ship locks were designed with a capacity of 100 million tons, expected to be reached by 2030. Unexpectedly, cargo throughput exceeded 100 million tons in 2011, 19 years ahead of schedule. By 2025, the Three Gorges枢纽's throughput had reached 173 million tons, putting immense pressure on safe maintenance and affecting vessel efficiency. After over a decade of scientific论证, the Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel project finally launched this year, becoming the first major national标志性 project to break ground in the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. Gao Peng added: "Once completed, the new channel will increase the Three Gorges hub's cargo capacity to 336 million tons annually."
Just over a month after the project's official start in June, reporters accompanied the engineering management department head to the pilot excavation area, witnessing the hustle and bustle of construction. Shangguan Fang, Deputy Director of the Three Gorges New Channel Engineering Management Department, noted: "The pilot excavation area spans 935 meters in length, with a maximum excavation height of 123 meters and a volume of over 8.5 million cubic meters, roughly one-twentieth of the total earthwork for the project. This area serves as a test bed to accumulate experience for subsequent main construction."
Why conduct tests despite the Three Gorges having previously built ship locks? Because constructing such a massive new channel alongside the existing hub is unprecedented. In the pilot area, tests cover equipment performance, blasting technology, and earthwork management. After safety precautions, reporters recorded a blasting test: workers drilled holes, loaded electronic explosives, and executed remote-controlled blasts per standard procedures. Despite the large volume, the碎石 remained largely contained, with vehicles outside the blast zone operating normally. Blasting requires precision, and excavated soil and rock will be treated innovatively using green methods. Shangguan explained: "We've classified all渣料 and planned their utilization. Topsoil is stored in dedicated areas for future re-greening, while stone渣料 can be recycled as aggregate for concrete or other uses."
The Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel is the largest comprehensive project on the Yangtze mainline since the Three Gorges Project. Despite its scale, the site remains orderly thanks to an intelligent construction management platform using Beidou satellite navigation for real-time vehicle tracking. Ge Shoujie, Director of the Operations Management Department at the China Water Resources and Hydropower Fourth Bureau's New Channel Excavation Project, said: "Real-time data is uploaded to the platform, enabling digital monitoring of the entire production process. Later, when simultaneous excavation begins, vehicles will multiply, with up to 1,000 to 2,000 online, requiring high调度 management."
Apart from the new channel, the project includes the Gezhouba Navigation Expansion Project. Reporters learned that design must address both large-scale navigation issues and small ecological concerns, such as fish migration. Wang Xiao, Deputy Director of the Gezhouba Expansion Engineering Management Department, stated: "The Gezhouba area is highly ecologically sensitive, with Chinese sturgeon spawning grounds and finless porpoise habitats. When building the new two-line ship locks, we selected a water outlet that minimizes ecological impact while ensuring optimal navigation safety."
In addition to earthwork, reporters observed the relocation of 500 kV ultra-high-voltage transmission lines at the site. These lines, which send power from the Three Gorges Dam nationwide, must be rerouted without interrupting service—a first for China's large-scale, long-distance, uninterrupted power line relocation.
Major project construction serves as the "anchor" for China's macroeconomy during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, bolstering national security and development resilience while embodying the "investment in people" concept. The April Central Political Bureau meeting emphasized accelerating the six networks. Among them, the new-type power grid is a core platform for building a new power system and energy framework, based on主干 grids and distribution networks, supplemented by smart microgrids, forming a "main-distribution-micro" collaborative system. Li Hui, President of the State Grid Economic and Technological Research Institute, noted: "The primary goal is to ensure reliable power supply, transitioning from 'having electricity' to 'using good electricity' and 'green electricity.' It must also be resilient, with new digital and intelligent technologies, including AI, potentially integrated."
How is the new-type power grid serving production and daily life in the first year? Reporters focused on the Gansu–Zhejiang ±800 kV UHV DC transmission project under construction in Zhejiang Province, one of China's most economically active regions. Pei Chuanxun, Director of the Development Planning Department at State Grid Ningbo Power Supply Company, explained: "The 800 kV line sends power to Yuezhou in Zhejiang, where it's stepped down for distribution to households. Once completed, it will deliver 36 billion kWh annually, with over half (20 billion kWh) from renewable sources like wind and solar."
During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, UHV transmission lines spanning east-west and north-south will form the backbone of the new-type power grid. Simultaneously, distributed renewable energy sources, increasingly integrated into distribution and microgrids, are gaining importance. In late July, reporters visited a newly completed car park in Ningbo's Qianwan New District, where workers installed photovoltaic panels. As more distributed solar connects to urban grids, the traditional distribution network—responsible for the "last mile" of power delivery—has become bidirectional, creating new pressures. A planning simulation platform offers optimal suggestions for integrating distributed solar into the grid. Feng Yibin, Director of the Technological Innovation Office at State Grid Ningbo's Economic and Technological Research Institute, said: "When new solar is added, the platform compares options, like方案一 and方案三, to ensure safe access and efficient grid resource use. The solution with lower line losses is considered more economical."
By early August, distributed solar installations on factory and residential rooftops in Ningbo had reached nearly 10 GW, equivalent to two large thermal power plants. At the Ningbo Power Dispatching and Control Center, reporters saw that on sunny days, solar has shifted from a "supplementary source" to a "primary contributor" to power supply. However, Ningbo, located on the southeastern coast, experiences frequent summer thunderstorms. What happens when clouds roll in? On July 19, just after 11 a.m., dark clouds brought thunderstorms, causing solar output to plummet. The dispatch center immediately coordinated with各级 platforms, and provincial and municipal power resources quickly filled the gap.
Beyond UHV corridors and urban distribution networks, smaller microgrids are being built in communities and factories. By precisely understanding equipment and user habits, virtual power plants adjust consumption patterns for smarter, more efficient energy use. For businesses and households, the key expectation is stable power, even during emergencies. To enhance grid resilience, reporters visited the "brain" behind the grid's feeder automation system. Zhang Jiming, a grid automation expert, reviewed power restoration after two typhoons passed through Ningbo in July. The system automatically locates and isolates faults, restoring power to most affected users within 2 minutes—sometimes seconds. Yet Zhang remains unsatisfied. "Many high-tech companies are sensitive to power outages; even brief interruptions can报废 products. Over the next few years, we'll monitor early signs of微小 issues using AI to preemptively warn and prevent faults, making the grid more reliable and fault-free."
Throughout the research, reporters observed that in the first year, major projects increasingly focus on small details: breaking large projects into smaller units to record every blast data point, considering the impact of lock水流 on fish, and deploying microgrids alongside large grids. Even small rooftop solar panels in cities can aggregate into significant energy. It is this attention to every small issue and effort on each detail that steadily advances major projects, laying a solid foundation for China's modernization.
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