Understand the development ledger behind the construction of the canal (reflected)

Understand the development ledger behind the construction of the canal (reflected)

Set sail for the sea!

In September this year, the Pinglu Canal, the first grand canal built between the river and the sea since the founding of the People's Republic of China, was officially completed and opened to navigation.

Cutting through mountains and reaching rivers and seas, this 134.2-kilometer-long canal was built according to Class I standards for inland waterways and can be navigable for 5,000-ton ships. It is the canal with the highest navigability level in China and has created many "best in the world" in one fell swoop.

Since the construction started in August 2022, more than 20,000 builders have been working hard in the mountains for more than 1,400 days and nights. The total investment has exceeded 70 billion yuan, and the road to the sea has been opened. Not only the Pinglu Canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Xiaoqing River waterway connection project have started, and projects such as the Zhejiang-Jiangxi, Jiangxi-Guangdong, and Hunan-Guangxi canals have entered the demonstration stage... For some time, a new round of canal construction boom has attracted widespread attention.

Some people wonder: Today, when high-speed trains are speeding and road networks are getting denser and denser, why do we spend more than 70 billion yuan to build a canal? How to calculate this account?

"Controlling water means governing the country, and the way to control water is an important way to govern the country." Behind the planning and construction of the canal lies the deep layout and long-term considerations of economic and social development.

Behind the canal's "project account" is a logistics "cost reduction account".

In this fast-paced era, canals where speed is not dominant seem not “fashionable” enough and even a bit “retro”. Today, high-speed rail trains compress time and space within hours, pressing the "fast-forward button" for the flow of people and business transactions. However, in the face of the transportation of bulk materials of tens of millions of tons, the natural advantages of water transport's large volume, low cost, and low energy consumption are always irreplaceable. With the help of canal projects, connecting natural rivers that are not connected can reconstruct a low-cost, high-capacity transportation artery in the region.

Data is the most powerful proof. After the Pinglu Canal is opened to navigation, the sea voyage of goods in Guangxi and areas along the Xijiang River will be shortened by more than 560 kilometers, saving more than 5 billion yuan in transportation costs every year. Taking Funing Port in Yunnan as an example, the entire waterway transportation saves 98 yuan per ton compared with rail and road transportation, and saves 163 yuan per ton compared with road transportation.

Look at the overall situation in one area. Today, China can smelt more than 3.9 million tons of steel and manufacture more than 90,000 cars every day... The world's largest manufacturing scale has created the busiest flow of goods in the world. The low-cost dividends of water transportation channels are slowly being released, which will become a strong support for reducing logistics costs.

Looking deeper, the efficiency of the transportation system is never a single-dimensional speed competition, but a system optimization in which different transportation modes show their strengths and work together. The roads are flexible, the railways are stable, and water transportation is cheap. Different modes of transportation have their own advantages and disadvantages, and together weave China's modern comprehensive transportation system that is three-dimensional, diverse, efficient, and reliable.

Behind the "project account" of the canal, there is also a "general account" for strengthening the sea and opening up the development.

The opening of a canal is not just a new transportation channel, but also a profound reshaping of the regional development pattern.

Looking at the planning map of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, there are three channels running from north to south. Among them, the two main channels, the middle line and the west line, pass through most cities and states in Guizhou and lead to the Beibu Gulf outlet. For Guizhou and even the southwest region, the Pinglu Canal will reduce costs in the short term, assist industrial development in the medium term, and improve the level of openness in the long term. The inland hinterland will thus transform into an opening frontier, better connecting with the global market and integrating into the new development pattern.

Looking at a net from a river. According to the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline", by 2035, my country will basically build 25,000 kilometers of "four vertical, four horizontal and two network" national high-level waterways. The Pinglu Canal will be linked with the Xianggui Canal and the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal, which are under discussion, to connect the Yangtze River and Pearl River water systems, and will jointly build the main framework of water transportation that traverses the east and west and radiates north and south. When the inland is close to the sea at lower costs, industries organize division of labor on a larger scale, and urban agglomerations interact efficiently with economic circles, the potential of ultra-large-scale markets will be fully unleashed, and the prospects for open development will be broader.

Still water runs deep. The "Part 1" of the construction of the Pinglu Canal has been wonderfully completed, with navigation as a new starting point. Let us look forward to it together. In the southwest of the motherland, one river will activate the Beibu Gulf and open a new chapter of strengthening the sea. On the vast territory, more rivers and seas will harmoniously play the strong voice of high-quality development in the new era. (Jin Yan)