Since ancient times, canals have been an important link connecting water systems and promoting economic exchanges.
Looking back on the long river of history, the earliest canal recorded in China is the Xu River, which was dug in 506 BC, which is also the oldest artificial canal in the world, and then from the Hangou in the Spring and Autumn Period to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, all of which demonstrate the far-reaching impact of the canal on the country's economic and cultural development.
In the new century, with the rapid development of modern transportation modes such as "iron machines" (high-speed railways, highways, and aviation), the canal seems to be "invisible" and fades out of people's field of vision.
However, under the general trend of developing new quality productivity, the canal, as an important fulcrum in the field of infrastructure construction, can better open up the meridians and bloodlines of the national unified market, promote the smooth and efficient domestic circulation, and is of strategic significance for promoting regional economic integration and enhancing national competitiveness.
In June this year, the Ministry of Transport issued the "Opinions of the Ministry of Transport on Strengthening the Planning and Construction of Coastal and Inland Port Waterways in the New Era", which clearly stated that the role of the main channel of the trunk waterway should be given full play. Continue to promote the construction of the Pinglu Canal, and guide the deepening of the preliminary research and demonstration of the Hunan-Guangxi, Jiangxi-Guangdong and Zhejiang-Jiangxi Canals. It can be found that a new round of canal construction boom has been set off in many places in China.
As 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the Grand Canal's successful inscription on the World Heritage List, the traditional Grand Canal is taking on a new look and China is entering a new era of canals.
1. Why are they digging "golden waterways"?
First of all, we need to know that as one of the world's largest logistics markets, the logistics cost of the mainland is still high.
According to data from the National Development and Reform Commission and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, the total cost of social logistics in 2023 will be 18.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%. The ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP is 14.4%, down 0.3 percentage points from 2022, which is far behind the "14th Five-Year Plan for Logistics Development".
According to estimates, the cost of water transportation is 1/2 of the cost of railway transportation, 1/5 of the cost of road transportation, and 1/20 of the cost of air transportation. Obviously, if the development of water transport lags behind, it will directly lead to high logistics costs.
Therefore, China's water transport system needs to form a huge network, and improving the inland waterway shipping network is of great significance to open up the "blocking points" and "stuck points" in inland waterway shipping and smooth the "tendons" of the real economy.
Among them, compared with traditional large-scale infrastructure, as an important part of water transportation, the canal is a large-scale transportation mode with low cost, low energy consumption and less pollution, and is cost-effective.
The most direct is to shorten the transportation distance and time, and reduce the logistics cost. Not only that, people go with the goods, and the city prospers because of the water. The construction and operation of the canal will help to break through the obstruction of rivers in the region, promote the optimal allocation of resources in a wider region, improve the overall economic efficiency, promote industrial complementarity and market integration, and form a closer regional economic cooperation network.
For example, the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal, which is currently being promoted, is one of the largest canal construction projects in China, with a total investment of more than 320 billion yuan and a planned total length of 1,988 kilometers, which is 194 kilometers longer than the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
It can efficiently connect the three national strategic regions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, improve the layout of the national high-grade waterway network, and form a new pattern of inland water transport.
Another example is the Jianghuai Canal, which will be fully opened in August 2023, opening a new chapter in Anhui's water transportation, and the overall navigable mileage can be shortened by 200 kilometers to 600 kilometers, which not only reduces the transportation cost of bulk goods in the hinterland, but also promotes the industrial development and economic exchanges along the region, and its shipping, economic, ecological and other benefits are gradually emerging.
In June this year, the General Office of the Anhui Provincial People's Government issued the "Opinions on Building a High-quality Jianghuai Trunk Line Water Transport Channel", which further clarified the goal blueprint of "taking the Jianghuai Canal as the main backbone, connecting the Shaying River to the north and the Wushen Canal to the south, and forming a large water transport channel through the Jianghuai Trunk Line to the sea".
It can be found that continuously exploring and releasing the comprehensive advantages and development dividends of the canal based on the shipping value has become a pragmatic and urgent topic in the hands of the city.
2. How to make "China's First Canal City"?
According to statistics, the eight provinces (cities) along the Grand Canal account for less than 10% of the country's land area, carry more than one-third of the country's population, and contribute nearly half of the country's total economic output.
The Grand Canal is densely packed with many towns and villages, which are closely connected and interdependent with the Grand Canal, and are not only witnesses to the historical changes of the Grand Canal, but also direct participants in the process of its changes. These areas are deeply fed by the canal and have had a profound impact on it. Among them, Yangzhou has to be mentioned.
Yangzhou is located in the central part of Jiangsu Province, the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal confluence, since ancient times is an important town of salt industry, with the rapid rise of salt merchants and the accumulation of huge wealth, to promote its urban development, and the excavation of the Grand Canal to make it an important material transfer center, incarnate the hub of north-south transportation, because of the development of water transport and salt transport and rich in the world.
The canal is 3,000 miles, and the most beautiful is Yangzhou. The Yangzhou section of the ancient canal has not only witnessed its historical changes, but also nurtured a unique canal culture. In 2014, the Grand Canal project led by Yangzhou was successfully selected into the World Cultural Heritage List.
In this way, Yangzhou deserves to be "the first city of China's canal", so how did it do it?
①The top-level plan escorts the canal legacy
Planning first, Yangzhou City has formulated and promulgated the "Implementation Plan for the Protection, Inheritance and Utilization of the Culture of the Grand Canal in Yangzhou City", "The Cultural Heritage Protection Plan of the Yangzhou Section of the Grand Canal", "The Plan for the Integration of Culture and Tourism in the Yangzhou Section of the Grand Canal", and the "Plan for the Value Interpretation and Promotion of the Yangzhou Section of the Grand Canal", and issued the "Regulations on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Yangzhou Section of the Grand Canal" to build a development pattern of "one main axis", "eight major areas" and "multiple nodes", which provides a strong guarantee for the protection of the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal.
Based on this background, Yangzhou has promoted the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt, including the protection, inheritance and utilization of cultural heritage, as well as the integrated development of the cultural and tourism industry, such as the holding of the World Canal Cities Forum, the completion of the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou, and the creation of the "Twelve Views of the Canal", which continue to stimulate new momentum for the high-quality development of canal cultural tourism.
②Digital transformation is driving the city's re-upgrading
More importantly, at present, Yangzhou is focusing on building a famous industrial science and technology innovation city, a cultural tourism city, and an ecological livable city. The development of new quality productivity according to local conditions, the acceleration of the construction of the "613" industrial system, and the layout of the digital economy have become the key measures of "overtaking in corners", and the digital transformation of the whole region is actively being actively promoted.
Among them, in terms of canals, in-depth excavation of the contemporary value of Yangzhou ancient city, Grand Canal and other characteristic cultures, and vigorously promote "digital Yangzhou", "Yundu Canal" and other digital brand IP, obviously, Yangzhou is actively using the unique resource of the canal, through the integration of culture and tourism, to shape and display its unique urban business image, and then empower its own industrial development.
3. Another "dark horse of the canal" is coming
Thriving by the river and prospering by the river is the common history and characteristics of the areas along the Grand Canal. In addition to Yangzhou, in recent years, Suqian City in Jiangsu Province has also become a typical example, exploring a golden waterway development path of "rejuvenating production with water and rejuvenating the city with water".
For a long time, Suqian has been nicknamed the "Thirteen Sisters of Jiangsu" because of its relatively backward ranking in the total GDP of the province. However, since 2022, Suqian's economic development has gained a strong momentum, achieving an economic aggregate of 411.198 billion yuan that year, successfully surpassing Lianyungang. It is worth noting that in the first half of this year, Suqian City became the "fastest" city in the province with a growth rate of 7.3%, showing considerable development potential to a certain extent.
As the saying goes, if water transportation is prosperous, the industry will be prosperous, and the reason why Suqian has become a dark horse is also to benefit from this. From the perspective of industrial planning and development, it is observed that Suqian relies on the resources of the canal to lead its industrial development through the following measures, actively contribute to rural revitalization, and drive economic take-off.
①Open container routes to improve energy efficiency, and actively develop the entire agricultural industry chain
Many people may not know that Suqian is located in the middle of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, with a 112-kilometer-long canal channel that runs through the whole territory, and is the only city in the country that has three different historical stages of the Grand Canal. This advantage makes it an important transportation hub connecting the north and the south and connecting the rivers and seas. In addition, Suqian also has other important waterways such as the Sulian Waterway and the Huai River, which has basically formed a relatively complete water transportation network.
Relying on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Suqian vigorously develops container transportation, and the routes have been opened to 8 domestic and foreign trade container routes such as Shanghai Port, Taicang Port, Nanjing Port and Lianyungang Port, with more than 50 weekly voyages, and its shipping capacity has been greatly improved. In 2023, the container throughput of Suqian Port will exceed 220,000 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 44.5%; the foreign trade container throughput was 15,700 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 334.36%; The cargo throughput was 13.6 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4%.
At the same time, Suqian has always adhered to the concept of industrialization and industrialization thinking to grasp agriculture, closely followed the theme of rural revitalization, and clarified the main direction of "three groups and four chains", that is, to continue to tackle the three major industrial clusters of flowers and trees, river crabs, and industrial edible fungi and the construction of four industrial chains of rice, fruits and vegetables, pigs, livestock and poultry, and strive to build a number of agricultural industry chains with strong innovation ability, sufficient ecological background, safety and traceability, and tight agricultural belt agriculture, which have achieved rapid development by relying on the convenient transportation and rich resources of the canal. In 2023, the comprehensive output value of the city's "three groups and four chains" will reach 90 billion yuan, reaching 95.5 billion yuan, and the quality and efficiency of agricultural development will be further improved.
②The top-level planning drives the port industry, and the construction of key parks promotes development
While Suqian has achieved remarkable results in the development of characteristic agriculture, it has also made full use of the advantages of the canal to focus on the port industry, and the development momentum is in full swing.
In March this year, the "Suqian Lingang Industry Development Plan (2024-2035)" was promulgated, proposing that by 2025, the Lingang industry will become a key force leading and driving the city's industrial transformation and upgrading, and the industrial scale will exceed 400 billion yuan.
At present, a number of key port-based industrial parks have been built along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, Sulian Waterway, Xuhong River and other high-grade waterways, such as the Canal Suqian Port Industrial Park, Luji Lingang Industrial Park, Siyang Economic Development Zone, Shuyang Lingang Industrial Park, etc., and relying on the industrial development foundation and resource endowment advantages of each park, it has promoted the development and growth of the Lingang industry, and built and formed high-end textile, new materials, equipment manufacturing and other characteristic advantageous industries, providing important support for Suqian's economic transformation and upgrading. In 2023, the output value of the new energy industry, led by crystalline silicon photovoltaics, will take the lead in exceeding 100 billion yuan. This year, the high-end textile industry is expected to become the city's second 100 billion industry.
It is undeniable that the construction of the canal will improve the transportation network and infrastructure along the route, and will also promote the upgrading and development of related industries, become an important boost to drive employment and expand domestic demand, and promote the optimization of the local industrial structure and the overall development of the economy.
4. Adapting to new trends requires forward-looking planning
Both Yangzhou and Suqian are taking advantage of their own geographical advantages and resource conditions to accurately carry out industrial positioning, and have begun to become bigger and stronger under the promotion of the canal economy by improving shipping capacity, improving infrastructure construction, and developing port industries and parks.
It can be found that the revival of the canal is a new trend in China's transportation development, which will help break geographical restrictions, build a unified national market, and inject new vitality into the high-quality development of the economy.
More broadly, through the construction of the canal, we need to make it clear that the construction of water transport networks has become an important part of promoting economic development, strengthening regional ties and enhancing the strategic position of the country.
China is one of the countries with the most rivers in the world, with 2,221 rivers with a basin area of more than 1,000 square kilometers. The high-quality development of water transport is a comprehensive task covering economy, people's livelihood, industry, ecology, cultural landscape and tourism. It involves the deep integration of culture and tourism in the region, the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure, the vigorous construction of economic parks and the comprehensive promotion of rural revitalization, and also focuses on ecological restoration, environmental governance and the careful protection of cultural heritage, which is a long-term and continuous work.
In the face of new opportunities and challenges, local governments need to plan well in advance and consider the industrial layout, environmental protection and socio-economic impacts in a forward-looking manner when planning relevant projects, so as to ensure that the relevant projects maximize their economic and social benefits. In this process, the support of think tanks is particularly important. Think tanks can provide scientific and rational decision-making suggestions for local governments through in-depth research on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of projects such as canals. At the same time, think tanks can also assist the government in formulating industrial development plans and investment promotion policies along the canal and other routes, so as to promote the in-depth integration and coordinated development of relevant projects and local industries.
As a technology-based decision-making think tank that understands the industry better, the Prospective Industry Research Institute has been deeply involved in global industrial research for 26 years, and is the only industrial consulting institution in China that independently develops industrial big data and has obtained the authoritative "double soft" certification, with 6 self-developed big data platforms, led by academicians, 1200+ international academician think tank experts, and continues to research and monitor more than 6600+ subdivided industries. Provide forward-looking industrial consulting and solutions in the field of industrial transformation.
Foresight believes that in the context of the development of new quality productivity, the following industrial development directions can be considered when planning canal projects by optimizing industrial layout, improving industrial energy level and promoting industrial innovation:
①Digital economy: The canal project can be used as an important infrastructure for the development of the digital economy, and promote the deep integration of digital technology and traditional industries through the construction of intelligent logistics and big data platforms. For example, the intellectualization of the Grand Canal is not only an innovation of traditional shipping methods, but also an active exploration of cultural inheritance and ecological protection, and improves development efficiency and ecological balance through intelligent monitoring and digital management.
②Intelligent manufacturing: Relying on the logistics advantages of the canal, it can realize the efficient transportation of raw materials and products, and at the same time, it can also attract enterprises in the relevant industrial chain to gather and form industrial clusters, and then improve the intelligent level of the manufacturing industry through the introduction of automation and information technology.
③New energy and new materials: As a transportation channel, the canal can effectively reduce the transportation cost of new energy and new materials and improve transportation efficiency. The canal project itself has also become a platform for the application of new energy technologies. For example, the construction of large-scale port and shipping facilities in the Pinglu Canal can save 66,000 tons of energy-saving standard coal and reduce carbon emissions by about 190,000 tons per year during the construction period, and about 190,000 tons of energy-saving standard coal and reduce carbon emissions by about 460,000 tons per year during the operation period, demonstrating the application potential of the canal in the new energy industry.
(4)Cultural tourism: Excavate the historical and cultural resources of the canal and its surrounding areas, develop cultural tourism and leisure industries, and enhance the cultural connotation and attractiveness of tourism through creative product design and cultural tourism integration.
⑤Ecological agriculture: The canal project can be used as a demonstration project for rural revitalization, through the promotion of green agricultural technology, the development of circular agriculture, the cultivation of ecological agriculture brand, etc., to achieve the goal of green and sustainable agricultural production, drive the rural revitalization work in the surrounding areas, and realize the integration of urban and rural areas and rural revitalization in the region.
In short, the construction of the canal is an important strategic choice made by the mainland in the context of the new era, and it is also a necessary move to improve China's inland waterway shipping network and reshape the regional economic map. As a new driving force for economic and social development, it is like a golden bond that closely connects all parts of China, injecting infinite vitality and hope. In this process, with its professional advantages, the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute can provide valuable assistance for local planning projects, and jointly promote the canal project and even the wider regional development planning to a higher level, and create a brilliant future together.
The Economist APP Industry Observation Group
For more industry research and analysis, please see:
[1] "2024-2029 Global and China Inland Waterway Transport (Inland Waterway) Industry Development Prospect and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report", Qianzhan Industry Research Institute
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Resources:
[1] "Why China Carries the Thousand Autumns" Yangzhou: Shouldering the Mission of the Times to Regenerate the Ancient Canal", released by Yangzhou
[2] "Suqian, Jiangsu: Coordinating the Protection, Inheritance and Utilization of the Millennium Canal", Suqian.com