On June 3, the Pinglu Canal achieved full water flow, entering its comprehensive water testing phase. On June 8, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel Project... In recent times, construction on several major water transport projects has been significantly accelerated.
These major water transport projects are crucial for enhancing cross-regional freight efficiency and serve as important levers for expanding effective investment and stimulating domestic demand to stabilize growth.
As the first major national landmark project to commence construction during China's 15th Five-Year Plan period, the Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel Project has an estimated static total investment of approximately 77.208 billion yuan.
"The Three Gorges New Water Transport Channel Project has a long construction cycle and a large investment scale. It involves extensive earthwork excavation, concrete pouring, and requires substantial quantities of bulk raw materials, machinery, and electromechanical equipment. This will drive effects across related upstream, midstream, and downstream industrial chains and create a significant number of job opportunities," said an official from the Ministry of Water Resources.
The Han River Shipping 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 chemical manufacturing upon completion, forming a cyclical driving model of "water transport infrastructure leading, followed by industrial investment." The fifth-phase project of Guangzhou Port's Nansha Port Area, with direct infrastructure investment of about 14.447 billion yuan, is anticipated to attract sustained investment from sectors like cross-border e-commerce and port-side equipment manufacturing upon completion, leveraging long-term investments in foreign trade and manufacturing... Major water transport projects, by driving demand in upstream and downstream industries through direct infrastructure investment and attracting associated industrial clusters through shipping factor agglomeration, have become a key pillar in expanding effective investment and stabilizing the domestic demand base.
Vigorously advancing the construction of major water transport projects represents a targeted practice in China to address bottlenecks and choke points in 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.
Linking the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau on one end and extending into the Hong Kong and Macao markets on the other, the Xijiang Shipping Trunk Line serves as a "golden waterway" for southwest China's cargo exports. As freight traffic in the Pearl River Basin becomes increasingly busy, the navigation capacity at key nodes of the Xijiang Shipping Trunk Line is nearing saturation.
In 2017, the capacity expansion and upgrade project for the 3000-ton-class channel of the Xijiang River (Jieshou to Zhaoqing section) was completed. In 2024, the second phase of the 3000-ton-class channel project for the Guigang to Wuzhou section of the Xijiang Shipping Trunk Line was finished... The capacity expansion and upgrade projects for the Xijiang Shipping Trunk Line continue to advance, moving towards the goal of full connectivity of the 3000-ton-class channel.
The construction of major water transport projects brings significant improvements in transport capacity. In 2025, the annual cargo throughput of the Xijiang Ship Lock Joint Dispatch System reached 507 million tons, with the Changzhou Ship Lock handling 224 million tons, maintaining its position as the ship lock with the highest annual cargo throughput on natural rivers in China.
Vigorously promoting the construction of major water transport projects is beneficial for fully leveraging the comparative advantages of water transport, such as large capacity, low cost, and low energy consumption, thereby effectively reducing overall social logistics costs.
Looking at a map of China, the Yangtze River and the Huai River run through Anhui province from south to north. Historically, these two nearly parallel major rivers were separated by ridges and were not navigably connected.
On September 16, 2023, the Jianghuai Canal was fully opened for trial operation, achieving a "handshake" between the Yangtze and Huai rivers within Anhui province. 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 is 247 kilometers, approximately 680 kilometers shorter than before, saving about 5 days. The distance to Tongling Henggang Port Area is about 435 kilometers shorter than before, saving about 3 days.
The enhanced transport capacity has driven a transformation in business development. "Previously, the port could only handle bulk cargo like construction materials and grain. Now, we've shifted to containers, and goods of various categories like furniture and home appliances can be transported by water," said the general manager of a port company in Fuyang.
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 Archipelago in Zhejiang, amidst a forest of pile drivers and the roar of machinery, the Fodu Container Terminal Project in the Liuheng Port Area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is under intense construction.
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.
"The seven container berths of 200,000-ton-class and below aim to physically resolve the 'throughput bottleneck' of the core port area. In the future, this area will stand alongside the Meishan Port Area and the Chuanshan Port Area, collectively forming the largest and most influential ten-million-TEU-level container berth cluster in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, serving as a solid support for Zhejiang in forging a world-class strong port," said an executive of the project company.
To further smooth the water transport cycle and continuously support economic and social development, how will major water transport projects be developed in the future?
"We will further address bottlenecks and choke points in inland waterway transport, focus on optimizing major trunk channels, build a modern high-grade waterway network, and enhance the capacity of port hubs," stated a relevant official from the Ministry of Transport. In the future, major water transport projects will be further upgraded in the direction of greening, intelligence, and safety, continuing to leverage the advantages of water transport in terms of large capacity, low cost, and low energy consumption. This will lay a solid water transport foundation for accelerating the building of a strong transportation country and achieving high-quality economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
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