It was stressed at the meeting that this year is the year to comprehensively advance the construction of 'Waterborne Jiangsu'. Jiangsu will focus on the major requirement such as developing new quality productive forces, building a modern industrial system, and promoting regional coordinated development. Efforts will be intensified to step up project construction, advance key projects, expand open spaces, and serve industrial development. It is necessary to fully create an economically open waterway logistics network, significantly enhance the waterway efficiency, and accelerate the transformation of waterway advantages into development and competitive advantages.
The planned proportion of Grade II and above waterways can reach to 65%
In 2023, Jiangsu began to implement the “Waterway Jiangsu” initiative and released guidelines on accelerating the building of a distinctive “Waterborne Jiangsu”. According to the guidelines, Jiangsu will build a high-grade waterway network featuring "two vertical and five horizontal axes," which is "networked, accessible to the sea and rivers, high-quality, efficient, and securely supported." The length of Grade II (quasi-Grade II) and above waterways will be close to 1,100 kilometers by 2025. Two crisscrossing arteries of Grade II waterways will be formed, with the Yangtze River trunk line crossing east and west, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal traversing north and south. It will build a more functional world-class port cluster in the northern Yangtze River Delta, with comprehensive port throughput capacity reaching 2.8 billion tons, forming a distinctive waterway service system with multi-modal railway-highway-waterway transport. The ocean going and near-sea container shipping lines will basically cover major national and regional ports along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
By 2035, Jiangsu aims to achieve a total mileage of trunk line waterways of over 4,000 kilometers, with access to over 74% of provincial-level and above development zones and over 95% of county-level nodes. The length of Grade II and above waterways is targeted to reach of over 2,200 kilometers, covering over 56% of provincial-level and above development zones, over 90% of key coastal and riverside port areas, and prefecture-level cities.
After the issuance of the guidelines, the Department of Transportation of Jiangsu Province completed the revision of the Jiangsu Provincial Mainline Waterway Network Plan. The planned mileage for Grade II and above waterways increased from 1,008 kilometers to 2,727 kilometers, raising their proportion from 25% to 65%.
Statistics indicate that in 2023, the proportion of waterway freight volume in Jiangsu accounted for 38% of the total freight volume, 22 percentage points higher than the national average. The province's ports handled a total cargo throughput of 3.51 billion tons, ranking first in the country.
The full completion of the Southern Jiangsu Canal Grade II waterway is scheduled for 2025
Jiangsu has the unique strength in waterway transport resources. The coast, rivers, and canal, are interconnected through a well-developed waterway network. Pillar industries, major ports, and key hubs facilitate communication through various waterways, driving continuous economic development. However, the mismatch between the Grade III waterway of the Southern Jiangsu Canal and the Grade II waterway of the Northern Jiangsu Canal has become one of the factors affecting shipping efficiency. To fully leverage the advantages of water transportation, such as high capacity, low energy consumption, and low cost, the "Waterborne Jiangsu" key project—Southern Jiangsu Canal (southern section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal) "Three-to-Two" channel modification project was initiated.
The 212.2- kilometer Southern Jiangsu Canal flows through the cities of Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, and Suzhou. The Wuxi section starts from Zhihu Port, bordering Changzhou in the west, and ends at the Fengle Bridge, bordering Suzhou in the east. The waterway will be dredged to meet Grade II waterway standards, with a dredging length of 39.28 kilometers and a cutting volume of 1.844 million cubic meters. The bottom width of the waterway will be no less than 60 meters, and the navigation depth will be no less than 4 meters. Simultaneously, complementary projects such as bridge protection will be implemented. The construction period of the project is planned for one year, with an estimated investment of 197 million yuan.
The overall construction of Class 3 Waterway Upgraded to Class 2 Project for canal in southern Jiangsu was kicked off by the project in Wuxi section of waterway. This year, Jiangsu will also start the renovation projects in the Changzhou, Zhenjiang and Suzhou sections to ensure the completion of the second-class waterway of the southern Jiangsu canal by 2025. By then, 2000-ton ships will be able to navigate the Jiangsu section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal around the clock, further unleashing the potential of water transportation.
Exposed to the outside world, Jiangsu, located at the intersection of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Delta, plays a crucial role in the national industrial and supply chains. Jiangsu will build a modern water transportation system that aligns with high-quality development, aiming to form the pattern that Yangtze and Huaihe River are connected to reach the Yellow Sea without obstacles, optimize the main channels, accelerate the upgrading of waterways into a network. While focusing on key projects, efforts will be made to speed up building special waterways featured in small, swift and efficient transportation within ports and industrial parks. This comprehensive approach aims to achieve connectivity from rivers to seas, linking globally, and promoting Jiangsu’s manufacturing industry and Chinese manufacturing to better integrate into the global market. Focusing on the development of modern water transportation, we adhere to intelligent, green, and integrated development. We simultaneously advance facility construction, service upgrades, and efficiency improvements, emphasizing optimal vessel types, route expansion, and safety production to showcase a beautiful scene of clear waters, green shores, and smooth cargo transportation.
Source from: China transportation news