At a time when new ideas, new technologies and new means continue to empower the informatization, digitalization, intelligentization, and greenization of the transformation and upgrading of the shipping system, how can we explore the new shape of shipping in the future? And how to grasp the new trend of development ?
On May 20, the seminar on “New Generation Shipping System”, jointly organized by Inland Navigation Development Construction Committee of CIN and the National Engineering Research Center for Water Transport Safety, was held in Wuhan. Mr. He Jianzhong, President of CIN, attended the seminar online and gave a welcome speech, Mr. Qiu Jianhua, deputy director of Changjiang River Administration of Navigational Affairs, MOT (hereinafter referred to as CRA), and Mr. Wu Chaozhong, vice president of Wuhan University of Technology, attended the seminar and gave a welcome speech. Yi Jiyong, Deputy Director General of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, Su Jie, deputy director general of the Department of Planning, and Lin Qiang, deputy director general of the Department of Science and Technology, all participated the discussion and expressed their views online.
He Jianzhong pointed out in his speech that building a new generation of inland waterway shipping system is a strategic measure for the transport sector, especially the shipping system, to implement the overall requirements of “three new and one high” (i.e.: based on a new development stage, implementing a new development concept, building a new development pattern and achieving high-quality development), and it is also an important task to build a strong transportation country and make up for the shortcomings of inland waterway shipping development. Specifically, the construction of a “new generation of shipping system” requires not only ecologically reliable waterways, low-carbon and efficient ships, green and intelligent ports, but also important guarantees in terms of management systems, mechanisms, talents, systems and policies to adapt to the new development stage. To this end, he believes there are three areas that need to be strengthened: Firstly, we should accelerate the construction of waterways, especially high-grade inland waterways, and strive to exceed 20,000 km by the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan. At the same time, we should accelerate the construction of the new waterway of The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, promote the upgrading of the Navigation Channel of Xijiang River, and study on the navigation of the northern section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (Jining, Shandong - Beijing). The second is to accelerate the formation of green and low-carbon water transport modes, optimize and adjust the transport structure, encourage and support the development of river-sea-through transportation mode, vigorously promote the digital transformation and development of the shipping industry, and accelerate the construction of a green and low-carbon intelligent water transport system. The third is to continuously improve the modernization of water transport management. We will study the deepening of the reform of the port administration system, the revision of the much-needed water transport management regulations, especially the revision of the Port Law and the Maritime Law and the formulation of the Regulations on Multimodal Transport, the improvement of the operation mechanism of the unified large market, and the study of innovative policies to safeguard the development of water transport.
Qiu Jianhua said that China has entered a stage of high-quality development. Nowadays, the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial change go further development, and new technologies and new industries such as digital economy and artificial intelligence have become powerful technical support for economic and social development. In order to implement the deployment of the Two Outlines for a country with strong transportation network, the CRA has fully and accurately implemented the new development concept, scientifically grasped the developing law of the navigation of Yangtze River, put forward the theme of high-quality development, with development concepts of safety, green, coordination, and innovation as the main line. The overall idea is to promote the high-quality navigation of Yangtze River in a comprehensive and systematic manner. He said that the “new generation of shipping system” is based on the existing shipping system, with high-tech, intelligent ships as the core, through the integration and sharing of the elements including “ship - port - cargo” and “human - machine - environment” to achieve the green ecology, reduce transport costs and improve navigation safety, which is in line with the general idea of "four developments" of the navigation in Yangtze River. In the next step, CRA will actively focus on and support the research and development of the “new generation shipping system” and its pilot application in Yangtze River.
Yan Xinping, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Endowed Chair Professor of Wuhan University of Technology and director of the National Engineering Research Center for Water Transport Safety, gave a keynote speech at the seminar entitled Conception and Construction of “New Generation Shipping System”. He envisaged that the future waterway traffic will be a new generation of shipping system with “shore-based control as the main focus and ship-side guard as the supplement”, using high technology to realize the integration, coherence, and autonomous sharing of shipping system through “ship-port-cargo” and “human-machine-environment”. In addition, a digital innovation technology system will be built on the basis of Cyber-Physical Systems. The system is based on physically decentralized but interconnected information sharing among ships, ports, waterways and passenger and cargo units, significantly enhancing the green, safe, intelligent and convenient level of waterway transport services. The “new generation of shipping system” is oriented towards the comfortable carriage and personalized, efficient and precise displacement of passengers and cargo, with independent but randomly related components, elements and systems such as green and intelligent ships, digital ecological facilities, reliable shore-based support and resilient operational services interacting and working together in a timely manner. In line with the idea of establishing a new generation of shipping system, it is necessary to break the limitations of the existing waterway transportation system in terms of partial research and single technology research, and seek to the high-quality innovative development. It is necessary to coordinate and synchronize technological innovation, management improvement and standards and regulations construction to guarantee the sustainable development of the new generation of shipping system. Therefore, he recommends the establishment of mechanisms such as national inter-ministerial coordination and central-local linkage to promote the in-depth research and implementation of the new generation of inland waterway shipping system.
Mo Jianhui, Vice president of CIN, Cao Desheng, head at bureau level of China Maritime Bureau, Wang Canqiang, member of the Party group and head of the discipline inspection group of Pearl River Administration of Navigational Affairs, Yu Shengying, former inspector of Planning Department of MoT, Liu Jialun, associate research fellow of Wuhan University of Technology, Zhang Huaqin, dean of Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, Huang Yamin, research fellow of Wuhan University of Technology, Liu Xin, dean of Transport Planning and Research Institute Ministry of Transport, Zhou Xiaohang, secretary of Party Committee of China Academy of Transportation Sciences, Liu Qing, professor of Wuhan University of Technology, Chen Jihong, professor of Shenzhen University, Wei Zhijie, executive vice chairman of Inland Navigation Development Construction Committee of CIN, Zhu Man, associate research fellow in Wuhan University of Technology, Lin Rong, deputy director of China Transport Telecommunications & Information Center, Ge Xiongfei, director of China Waterborne Transport Research Institute, Xu Xinzhong, deputy director general of Heilongjiang Maritime Safety Administration, Liu Liang, director general of Three Gorges Navigation Authority, Xu Wei, deputy director general of Jiangsu Maritime Safety Administration, Huan Zhaoping, deputy director general of Changjiang Maritime Safety Administration, Ma Daojiu, deputy director general of Guangxi Maritime Safety Administration, Tian Chi, deputy director of the industrial development department of Eighth Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited, Shen Ximing, deputy director of the 36th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Yang Baocen, deputy director of Changjiang Waterway Bureau Survey Center, Ouyang Fan, deputy director of Changjiang Shipping Development Research Center, Zhu Guoming, dean of Nanjing Shuiyun Transport Research Institute and other experts all made key speeches respectively.
This seminar gathered many experts and scholars in the field of shipping in China to discuss and exchange ideas from multiple angles and in all aspects, focusing on the theoretical system, system framework and construction of the “new generation shipping system”. This is of great significance to accelerate the formation of the new system of inland rivers, cultivate the new mode and new form of industry of “shore-based control as the main focus and ship-side guard as the supplement”, create green, intelligent, safe and efficient modern shipping and logistics system, improve the service quality of passenger and cargo transportation, deepen the synergistic integration of transportation and related industries, help speed up the construction of a strong transportation country as the pioneer of China’s modernization, and support the implementation of national strategies and the construction of a strong and modernized socialist country.
The seminar was held both online and offline, and gathered nearly 500 delegates from more than 10 provinces and cities across China, including Wuhan, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and Nanjing, and will have a profound impact on the shipping sector in our country.