According to a promotion meeting for the high-level development of "Zhejiang Shipping" convened by the Zhejiang Provincial Government on November 27, the province's transportation sector has made significant strides this year. Zhejiang has established a "Five Vertical, Eight Horizontal, Ten Mainline" layout, built the province's first short feeder channel "connecting ports, reaching parks, and entering enterprises," and achieved new breakthroughs in enhancing the capacity of sea-river intermodal transport channels. The "Zhejiang Shipping" initiative has had a solid start, a promising opening, and delivered remarkable results.
This year marks the inaugural phase of "Zhejiang Shipping" development. The provincial transportation industry has scientifically and efficiently formulated a plan for the Zhejiang Inland Waterway Trunk Network, which includes 1,400 kilometers of planned Class II waterways. This plan provides a crucial foundation for project implementation and funding acquisition. Construction has commenced on the Hangzhou-Huzhou-Wuxi Line, the first trunk waterway capable of navigating 2,000-ton vessels. The "last kilometer" connecting the Hangzhou-Huzhou-Wuxi Line to the Linghu Industrial Park has been completed, enabling 1,000-ton vessels to reach the park directly. This is projected to save enterprises over 30 million yuan annually in logistics costs. The four major sea-river intermodal corridors are being advanced in synergy: the Oujiang River waterway is being accelerated towards full connectivity, the Wenzhou-Lishui container sea-river intermodal service is operating regularly, and the annual throughput of Quzhou Port is expected to exceed 10 million tons.
The intelligent and green development of "Zhejiang Shipping" has yielded phased achievements. Zhejiang has launched electronic navigational charts. The application scenarios of "Smart Ship Locks" and "Cloud-based Ship-Shore Coordination," along with the demonstration application of inland green intelligent shipping routes, have been selected as pilot projects for building China into a leading transportation country. The "Zhezhutong" system has achieved interconnection within the Yangtze River Delta region. The "Jingzhe Hao", China's first fully autonomous test vessel for entire voyages, was successfully launched. Construction has begun on the Huzhou Green Intelligent Ship Technology Industrial Park, with a total planned investment of 8.3 billion yuan. The development of green shipping corridors is steadily progressing: the "Changxing-Zhapu" near-zero-carbon route operates regularly, low-carbon service areas have been built and put into use, and efforts are underway to build a full-industry-chain base for green intelligent ships and a green ship industry cluster worth tens of billions of yuan. By 2026, the province will possess an annual production capacity of 200 electric vessels.
"Zhejiang Shipping" is pulsating with developmental momentum. Moving forward, Zhejiang will focus on four key tasks: project breakthrough, service optimization, port-industry-city integration, and governance enhancement, to advance the high-level development of "Zhejiang Shipping".
Zhejiang's transportation sector will intensify efforts to strengthen hardware support. Guided by waterway construction, it will accelerate the formation of the "One Vertical, One Horizontal" main water transport arteries, expedite breakthroughs at bottlenecks like the Fuchunjiang Ship Lock, promote technology empowerment, and enhance the capacity and efficiency of inland water transport. It will optimize shipping services and elevate service capabilities by continuously deepening the "Three Most" reforms (most efficient, convenient, and cost-effective), expanding the shipping network and cargo hinterland, innovating transport models, and improving logistics efficiency and market vitality. It will deepen port-industry-city integration to maximize comprehensive benefits by upgrading port and terminal hub capabilities, guiding industries to cluster along ports, promoting the integration of waterway transport and tourism, and ensuring the "Golden Waterway" delivers "Golden Benefits". Furthermore, it will drive the green, intelligent, and safe transformation by strengthening the construction and application of intelligent platforms, consolidating the foundation for water traffic safety, and better showcasing the beautiful landscape of Zhejiang with its clear waters, green banks, and smooth logistics.
To accelerate the formation of a strong synergy for building "Zhejiang Shipping", the meeting also witnessed the signing of a batch of outstanding modal shift projects from road to water transport. This includes strategic cooperation agreements signed by 5 provincial enterprises and transport agreements signed by 30 key enterprises, representing an estimated shift of approximately 5 million tons of cargo from road to water.
Source from: China Transportation News Network