On December 3rd, the first High-Quality Development Forum for Inland River Shipping, themed "New Era, New Ideas, New Paths – Higher-Quality Inland River Shipping," was held in Wuhan. The forum was jointly organized by the Changjiang River Administration of Navigation Affairs and the China Institute of Navigation. It was co-hosted by the Changjiang Waterway Bureau, the Inland River Shipping High-Quality Development Professional Committee of the China Institute of Navigation, China Water Transport Newspaper Co., Ltd., and the Waterway Branch of China Water Transportation Construction Association. The event included a main forum, a special seminar on the Changjiang River Basin Electronic Navigation Chart Service Alliance, and two specialized forums on water transport technology and smart navigation. Approximately 150 guests and representatives from national inland river shipping management departments, port and logistics enterprises, higher education institutions, research institutes, and technology companies engaged in dialogues and exchanges focusing on hot topics related to the development of inland river shipping. They collectively deliberated on the development path for higher-quality inland river shipping in the new era.
Sheng Yuechun, Vice Governor of Hubei Province, He Jianzhong, Chairman of the China Institute of Navigation, and Li Tianbi, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Transport, delivered speeches at the forum. Liu Liang, Director of the Changjiang River Administration of Navigation Affairs MOT, extended a welcoming message.
Sheng Yuechun stated that Hubei is currently fulfilling the historical mission assigned by President Xi Jinping to "build a pivot, lead the way, and compose a new chapter." The province is focusing on the goal of becoming a leading domestic shipping hub, port enterprise, and open channel. Hubei is vigorously creating an important node for the national large circulation and a crucial hub for both domestic and international dual circulation. The province is accelerating the construction of a leading area for the national new development pattern and striving to become a strategic support point for the rise of the central region. In the process of promoting the high-quality development of inland river shipping, the leadership of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and Government has personally researched and developed the "Port and Waterway Layout Plan of Hubei Province" and the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of the Port and Shipping Industry in Hubei Province." The province is dedicated to driving the high-quality development of water transport in Hubei, aiming for greener shipping methods, highlighting network advantages, and deepening collaborative cooperation to provide the "Hubei Practice" for the high-quality development of inland river shipping.
He Jianzhong stated that to promote the high-quality development of inland waterway transport, first, better utilizing the potential and advantages of inland navigation. It is necessary to redouble the efforts to accelerate the construction of high-grade inland waterways, especially during the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the subsequent "15th Five-Year Plan" period. The goal is to strive for a total length of 30,000 kilometers of high-grade waterways by 2035, further improving the network of high-grade inland waterways such as the Yangtze River, Pearl River, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and Huaihe River. Major projects and research on inland waterway infrastructure should be expedited, and new channel of the Three Gorges should be pushed to start. It is necessary to actively conduct preliminary research on the Hunan-Guangxi-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal. The promotion of the transfer and transformation of the innovative high dam navigation technology achieved by the combined use of multi-stage ship lifts, tunnels, aqueduct, and open channels at the Goupitan Town should be widely applied.Specifically, preliminary application research should be promoted for the construction of high dam navigation facilities in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River, including Xiluodu, Baihetan, and Wudongde. He also stated that constant efforts should be made to increase the proportion of railway-waterway transshipment, river-lake-sea direct transport, multimodal transport should be vigorously developed, especially railway-waterway transshipment and river-lake-sea direct transport, and the "last mile" problem of railway access to ports shall be resolved as a priority. It is necessary to gradually expand the scope of specific routes for direct transport at the estuary of the Yangtze River, fully leverage the comparative advantages of bulk cargoes and medium-long distance cargoes transport in railway-waterway transshipment, and fully utilize the comprehensive advantages of river-lake-sea direct transport in the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, continuously raise the proportion of inland waterway transport in comprehensive transport, making positive contributions to energy conservation, pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction in the industry.
Second, accelerating the green transition of inland waterway transport. It is imperative to vigorously promote the use of onshore power for vessels approaching ports, improve shore power facilities and standards for ship power reception design, construction, and operation, and enhance the coordination among power supply departments, port enterprises, shipping enterprises, ship-related parties, and competent departments, comprehensively adopt combining mandatory and incentive policies, and achieve standardized, regulated, convenient, and normalized use of shore power. He also noted that active research and demonstration applications of green ship power technologies should be developed, with emphasis on industry top-level design and systematic planning. Research and demonstration applications of clean energy and new energy marine power technology should be carried out based on different ship types, routes, and navigation areas. He emphasized that more efforts are needed to step up green infrastructure development and support of policy guidance, promote the infrastructure construction of green ports, green waterways, and transportation and energy integration , actively explore the application of green finance in the waterborne transport, establish a green waterborne transport development fund , focus on green development funds and green bonds , keep close track of the establishment of national low-carbon transformation funds and ensure that water transport, especially inland waterway transport receives financial support as a key sector. At the same time, attention should be paid to considering the mechanism for incorporating wateway transport projects, especially inland waterway trasnport , into national major projects, to provide element guarantees for accelerating project construction.
Third, promoting the digital and intelligent development of inlandwaterway transport. It is imperative to vigorously advance the deep integration of digital technology and the shipping industry, build a digital collection system, a networked transmission system, and an intelligent application system centered around the "data chain". We need to innovate shipping service platforms, deepen the innovative development model of shipping, and transform the vision of enjoyable travel for passengers and smooth transport of goods into new products and new business format through technologies such as cloud computing, big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, so as to enhance the new value of shipping. It is important to promote the integration and innovation of the industrial chain, supply chain, and logistics chain, explore new paths for cross-industry, full-chain, low (zero) emission integration of industrial chains, supply chains, and logistics chains, actively build a green development ecosystem, push forward green and low-carbon cooperation throughout the industrial chain, vigorously develop new business model and form of "Internet Plus" efficient logistics, and strive to achieve digitization of the entire logistics process, electronic document and mutual recognition and sharing of railway-waterway transshipment. It is also important to promote the industrialization of intelligent ships, speed up the development of an intelligent shipping governance system，with a focus on the formulation of regulations, standards, and norms. It is imperative to keep improving incentive policies on supporting the R&D, application, and industrialized large-scale operation of intelligent ships, encourage leading enterprises as the mainstay to pool the R&D design, construction supporting operations from competitive resources throughout the industrial chain , form industrial alliances, create collaborative innovation platforms, promote the integration of the entire industrial chain and innovation chain, and advance the generic technology R&D and the commercialization and application of intelligent ships.
Li Tianbi stated that in recent years, China's inland waterway transport has developed rapidly, China has led the world in port and shipping infrastructure, and China will continue to improve transportation efficiency, optimized transport capacity structure, maintain the stability of safety situation, andenjoy a good momentum in green and intelligent development. The function of the “main artery” of trunk lines, the 'main hub' of inland ports, and the “micro-circulation” of the waterway network has become more evident. He pointed out that this forum is of great significance for planning and implementing the high-quality development of inland waterway transportation in the new era and writing a new chapter in becoming a world leader in waterway transport. Li stressed that we will adhere to internal and external connectivity, quicken the establishment of a modern water transport infrastructure system, and demonstrate greater responsibility for building China’s strength in transport; we will insist on coordinated integration, promote coordinated development of inland waterway transportation and play a greater role in serving local economic and social development; we will enhance transport service efficiency through innovation-driven development, and make greater contributions to promoting high-quality development. We; we will continue to pursue green and low-carbon development, make a green inland waterway transport a brand name, and contribute more to “ecological priority and green development”.
Liu Liang said in his welcome speech that inland waterway transport is an important component of developing China’s transportation strength, connecting It connects people's livelihoods at one end and development at the other. It plays a crucial role in serving national strategy implementation supporting the establishment of a new development paradigm, and promoting economic and social development. The Yangtze River is has the world's largest waterway freight volume , and is busiest river in the world. As a dispatched agency of the Ministry of Transport exercising government industry management functions for Yangtze River shipping, Changjiang River Administration of Navigation Affairs will adhere tothe overarching approach of "one theme, four developments, five guarantees" for high-quality development , implement the "131" Smart Changjiang River construction path, which means, to establish one unified Changjiang shipping credit management system, create three platforms for intelligent management, comprehensive support, and public services, and build one unified and open Changjiang shipping market, and strive to create a "national window for inland water transport" and a "world model for inland water transport."
The main forum was presided over by Miao Changwen, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Changjiang River Administration of Navigation Affairs, and Xu Wei, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Yangtze River Channel Office. Yan Xinping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, gave an academic report titled "Scientific and Technological Innovation Thoughts on the High-quality Development of Inland Waterway Transport in China" Guo Qingsong, Deputy Director of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, Wang Jianhua, Director of the Pearl River Administration of Navigational Affairs of the Ministry of Transport, Nie Aiguo, Director of the Department of Transport of Anhui Province, Wang Wubin, Deputy General Manager of China Three Gorges Corporation, Cao Jianghong, Director of the Yangtze River Channel Office, Zhang Yi, Chairman of China Yangtze Shipping Group Co.,Ltd., and He Xianli, General Manager of Hubei Port Group Co.,Ltd., made wonderful speeches.
During the forum, the Changjiang River Administration of Navigation Affairs, in cooperation with the Yangtze River Main Waterway Search and Rescue Coordination Center and the Jiangsu Province Water Search and Rescue Center Office, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Yangtze River Water Traffic Safety and Emergency Management" with the transportation authorities from seven provinces and cities. The Changjiang River Administration of Navigation Affairs, the China Classification Society, transportation authorities from 13 provinces and cities, and the Commission Office of Shanghai Combined Port signed a Agreement on Accelerating the Modernization of Yangtze River Shipping and Promoting Green and Intelligent New Development Additionally, the Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) Service Alliance for the Yangtze River Basin awarded the second batch of member units.