Today, a super grand canal with an investment of more than 70 billion yuan, the Pinglu Canal, is under construction. This is the rebuilding of the Grand Canal in China since the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China planned three major canals south of the Yangtze River: the Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal, the Xianggui Canal, and the Pinglu Canal. The three canals will connect the two major water systems of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, connect the north and south water veins, recreate new land-sea channels, and reshape the regional economic pattern. Rebuilding the canal after a thousand years, what is its great practical significance and far-reaching historical significance?
On December 24, at the Youth Hub of the Pinglu Canal, the construction team was building a sluice.
01.Why the canal?
More than 1,000 years ago, the opening of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal completely connected the two major centers of China's north and south, and also moved China's political and economic center eastward, breaking China's original economic and political map.
The development of river navigation is an important aspect of river utilization, using the natural buoyancy of water to load goods by boat, which is an efficient mode of transportation in ancient times, so inland waterway shipping has been an important mode of transportation for human beings since ancient times. Inland water transport is an important part of the comprehensive transportation system and the comprehensive utilization of water resources, which has the advantages of less land occupation, large transportation capacity, low energy consumption and low pollution, and is an important strategic resource to achieve sustainable economic and social development.
China is rich in water transport resources, including more than 1,500 rivers with a basin area of more than 1,000 square kilometersThe Yangtze River and the Pearl River are the most important waterways. China also has the world's busiest waterway transport network, with a cargo turnover of 199394 in 20193.3 billion ton-kilometres, of which more than 52 per cent are transported by water, half of which are transported by inland rivers and half by ocean.
In 2007, the National Inland Waterway and Port Layout Plan was promulgated and implemented, with "two horizontal, one vertical, two networks and 18 lines".
At present, China has formed a high-grade inland waterway layout of "two horizontal, one vertical and two networks"."Two horizontal" refers to the Yangtze River trunk line, Xijiang (Pearl River water system) shipping trunk line, "one vertical" refers to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and "two networks" refers to the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta two high-grade waterway networks, the inland waterway system that connects the trunk and branches, and connects the river to the sea. At the end of 2020, the navigable mileage of inland waterways in China reached 12770,000 kilometers, of which 1610,000 kilometers and 359 inland ports.
However, in modern times, with the rise of railways, highways, airports, and coastal portsAs the mainstream of traditional transportationInland river transportation has gradually been marginalized and has become a shortcoming of comprehensive transportation. According to the 2021 statistical report of the Ministry of Transport, the cargo volume of inland shipping accounts for only 8% of the country. In contrast, Germany's inland rivers account for 28%, and the United States' inland rivers account for 15%, which is relatively small compared to China's domestic river freight.
China's domestic river shipping urgently needs to open up the north-south water transport channelWe will vigorously promote the development of "rail, public and water" multimodal transport and land-sea combined transport, help inland areas accelerate the adjustment of transportation structure, and greatly reduce the transportation cost of bulk commodities. Moreover, opening up the two major water systems of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, connecting the north and south through the canal, and directly reaching the ocean, can not only effectively supplement the shortcomings of inland river transportation, but also have the deep intention of balanced regional development.
Yi Jiyong, head of the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, introducedDuring the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China will continue to increase the development of inland water transport to make up for shortcomingsIt is estimated that about 5,000 kilometers of inland waterways will be added and improved, and about 2,500 kilometers of national high-grade waterways will be addedBy 2035, China will basically build a national high-grade waterway of "four vertical, four horizontal and two networks".50,000 km. We will continue to speed up the expansion and upgrading of the Yangtze River, Xijiang River, Huaihe River and other major water transport corridors, and continue to improve the smooth extension of the high-grade waterway network in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. Steadily promote the construction of the canal connection project, and orderly promote the construction of the navigation project to divert the river to the Huai River.
02.Why is the first one the Pinglu Canal?
The Pinglu Canal is the first canal in China for more than 1,000 years since the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the first canal since the founding of New ChinaIt is a major traction project of national strategies such as the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", the new land-sea corridor in the western region, and the large-scale development of the western region in the new era. Pinglu Canal, starting point is located in Pingtang River Estuary, Xijin Reservoir District, Hengzhou City, Nanning, Guangxi, through Luwu Town, Lingshan County, Qinzhou Province along the Qinjiang River into the Beibu Gulf, shortening the inland river voyage by more than 560 kilometers compared with the sea through Guangzhou, the total length of the canal is about 135 kilometers, and it is planned to be a Class I waterway, which can be navigated by 5,000-ton ships. After completion, the Pinglu Canal will become the shortest, most economical and most convenient new channel for sea transportation in southwest China.
The Pinglu Canal is a seaport connecting the Xijiang Shipping Route with the Beibu Gulf International HubIt will open up the main stream of the Xijiang River to the sea in the shortest distanceGuizhou and Yunnan are connected through many tributaries such as Zuojiang, Youjiang, Qianjiang, Hongshuihe, Liujiang and Duliujiang, so as to realize the direct connection between inland waterways and marine transportation in southwest ChinaAnd through the railway, public and water combined transport to cover the vast western region of the major transportation projects, greatly release the shipping advantages and potential.
The opening of the Pinglu CanalIn the near future, it will fundamentally alleviate the pressure on navigation in the lower reaches of the Xijiang RiverAnd through iron-water combined transportation, the pressure of the Yangtze River navigation is reduced. In the long term, it will connect with the Xianggui Canal, which is being studied and demonstrated, and will vertically connect the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Pearl River Economic Belt.
Compared with the Xianggui Canal and the Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal, it is mainly connected to the two rivers for water transport;Guangxi Pinglu Canal, yesThe new land-sea corridor in the westpart of the waterway, connecting the Xijiang River "** waterway" and the port of Beibu GulfIt is entrusted with the important task of connecting the river to the sea. In addition, in terms of input-output ratio, according to the plan, the investment in the Pinglu Canal in Guangxi will reach 72.7 billion yuan, while the investment in the Xianggui Canal is expected to reach 150 billion yuan, and the total investment may exceed 300 billion yuan in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal, which has the largest span.
You must know that the total investment of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which connects Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, is 120 billion yuan, and the total investment of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, which crosses natural hazards and crosses the third tier, is about 300 billion yuan. Therefore, the construction of the Grand Canal needs to go through long-term and detailed demonstration。Among them, the Pinglu Canal, which has the lowest cost, the least difficulty in construction and relatively large navigable value, has naturally become the first Grand Canal built in New China.
03.How important is it to open up the water transport of the two rivers?
China has one of the longest histories of canal construction in the world. More than 2,000 years ago, the construction of the Ling Canal connected the two major water systems of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, which have various functions such as shipping, irrigation and flood control.
With the economic and social development, especially after the construction of the Hunan and Guizhou Railway, railway and highway transportation have risen, while the navigable ships of the Lingqu are small and the traffic capacity is low, and its freight function is shrinking day by day. The Yangtze River and Pearl River water systems are not connected to each other, which has always restricted the full play of the overall benefits of China's domestic river navigation, and it is of great significance to open up the north-south water transport channel.
The Xianggui Canal and the Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal open up two high-speed waterways between the "two horizontals", communicating the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, in addition to communicating the Yangtze River, the Xijiang River and the north and south of the two trunk shipping, but also connect the east and west water transport network, through the Yangtze River main stream and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal linkageOpen up China's water transport network from south to north, and form five large-scale shipping areas: Beijing-Hangzhou Canal Shipping Area, Poyang Lake Shipping Area, Dongting Lake Shipping Area, Sichuan River Shipping Area, and Pearl River Shipping Area.
In February 2021, the Communist Party of China issued the "National Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline".Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hanxiang, Guizhou and other cross-basin water transport channels will be included in the main skeleton layout of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network. The Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal and the Xiang-Guizhou Canal are the key control sections of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Passage and the Han-Xiang-Guizhou Passage respectively.
As a result, the modern version of the "Lingqu" - Xianggui Canal is about to come out. The planned construction of the Xianggui Canal: the Yangtze River in the north and the Xijiang River in the south, of which the canal section starts from Pingdao, Yongzhou, Hunan, and ends in Pingle, Guilin, Guangxi, with a total length of about 300 kilometersThe canal is planned to be built according to the standard of secondary inland waterway, which can be navigated by 2,000-ton ships.
In February 2021, the Communist Party of China issued the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline", proposing a new pattern of "four vertical, four horizontal and two networks" national high-grade waterways, of which the "four verticals" mainly include the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, the Jianghuai trunk line, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Hanxianggui four cross-basin water transport channels;The "four horizontals" mainly include the Yangtze River trunk line and its main tributaries, the Xijiang trunk line and its main tributaries, the Huai River trunk line and its main tributaries, and the Heilongjiang River and its main tributariesThe "two networks" include the high-grade waterway network of the Yangtze River Delta and the high-grade waterway network of the Pearl River Delta. It can be seen that the Xianggui Canal is an important part of the "Four Verticals" in the Han Xianggui Channel. In January 2022, the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Modern Comprehensive Transportation System" was issuedIt is clearly proposed to carry out research and demonstration on key issues in the early stage of the Xianggui Canal.
Currently,The Xiangjiang National High-grade Waterway below Hengyang has met the 2,000-ton waterway standard, with the start of construction of the third phase of the Xiangjiang Yongzhou-Hengyang ** waterway construction project on December 18, 2022,The 1,000-ton waterway will soon be extended to Pingdao in Yongzhou, laying a solid foundation for the construction of the Xianggui Canal.
Han Xianggui Passage.
At present, the Jiangxi-Guangdong Grand Canal, which has been built with a huge investment of 150 billion yuan, connects the Pearl River and the Yangtze River, with a total mileage of 1,300 kilometers, and is also fully promoting the planning demonstration.
In 2020, the Ministry of Transport issued the "Outline for the Development of Inland Waterway Shipping", which also mentioned that it is necessary to open up a large north-south cross-basin water transport channel, build a national high-grade waterway network in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta that is suitable for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and build a river-sea combined transport channel in the water network area for the construction of an inland waterway shipping system. Among them, the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong channel is linked to China's Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, and its construction is quite critical. On January 18, 2022, the "preliminary research and demonstration of the Hunan-Guangxi-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal" has been included in the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Modern Comprehensive Transportation System".
Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Guangdong channels.
Among them, the total length of the planned canal of the Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal is 1,301 kilometers, and it is constructed according to the standard waterway of 1,000 tonsAmong them, 767 kilometers in Jiangxi, 533 kilometers in Guangdong Province, Nanchang in Jiangxi Province to Qingyuan, Guangdong, including the transit section of the two provinces are constructed with ** waterway, and the rest is a secondary waterway. Among them, 606 kilometers in Jiangxi and 258 kilometers in Guangdong are close to completion, with a planned investment of about 150 billion yuanThe Zhejiang-Jiangxi Canal is planned to be about 760 kilometers long (410 kilometers in Jiangxi), with a planned investment of about 170 billion yuan.
The Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal is composed of the Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal and the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Canal, with a total length of about 1,988 kilometers and a planned investment of about 320 billion yuan. In terms of length, this is 194 kilometers longer than the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. In terms of investment, this not only exceeds the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (126.9 billion yuan), but also exceeds the Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project (248.5 billion yuan). Therefore,The Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal is regarded as a large-scale project in the history of China's water transport in recent years, a "water transport project of the century".
In the future, after the opening of the Xianggui and Jiangxi-Guangdong canals and the western land-sea new channel (Pinglu) canal, a new pattern of connecting the Yangtze River, the Pearl River Economic Belt and the Silk Road Economic Belt can be formed, thereby promoting the balanced development of the central and western regions.