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Text | Kaifeng

After a thousand years, China once again ushered in the "Canal" era.

Thousands of years ago,Grand CanalThe emergence of the canal ensured the operation of the country's grain transport and promoted economic exchanges between the north and the south.

To this day, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (the section south of the Yellow River) is still the third largest golden waterway after the Yangtze River and the Xijiang River.

In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of people building artificial canals in my country.From Guangxi to Hunan, from Jiangxi to Hubei, from Anhui to Henan, a number of provinces entered the canal era.

Why is China building artificial canals on a large scale again? Can the rise of canals bring opportunities to change destiny?

01

China is working hard to build the canal.

According to The Paper, following an investment of over 70 billion yuanGuangxi Pinglu Canal construction startedLater, Guangxi and Hunan announcedHunan-Guangxi CanalIt has entered the planning stage, and the total investment is expected to exceed 150 billion yuan.

At the same time, theZhejiang-Ganzhou-Guangdong Canal, preliminary research and demonstration are underway, the total investment of the entire line may exceed 300 billion yuan, and the line length will exceed that of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

Not only the three major canals, but in recent years, my country has also built or planned a number of artificial canals.

As part of the Yangtze River to Huaihe River Diversion Project, Anhui invested more than 80 billion yuan to buildThe Jianghuai Canal has been opened, which will provide further support for Hefei to build the Jianghuai intermodal transport center and upgrade it to a transportation hub.

As a major province in water transportation, Hubei is expected to invest 78.4 billion yuan in the construction ofJinghan Canal, the "intestinal obstruction" section of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River will be straightened, and 10,000-ton giant ships will be able to pass through.

HenanSpending more than 100 billion yuan, planning47 inland waterway transport projects, with the help of the Yellow River, Huai River, the Henan section of the Grand Canal, etc., it was integrated into the Yangtze River Delta in one fell swoop.

……

The total investment in these projects may exceed one trillion yuan, and they are expected to drive a new round of large-scale infrastructure.

At present, the Jianghuai Canal has been completed and opened to traffic, the Pinglu Canal will be completed in 2026, and other artificial canals are still in the process of construction.Planning or preliminary research stage.

Whether they can be included in national plans or national key projects, and whether they can obtain financial support at the national level, will determine the future of these mega projects.

02

In the era of high-speed rail, why do we need to overhaul the canal?

on the one hand,Water transportation is too cheap.

The cost of water transportation is 1/2 of that of railway transportation, 1/5 of that of road transportation, and 1/20 of that of air transportation.

Water transportation has comparative advantages such as large transport capacity, low unit transportation cost, low energy consumption and less pollution. It is more suitable for the transportation of bulk goods such as coal, steel and industrial products.

on the other hand,Major infrastructure construction needs a new direction. After highways and high-speed railways, it is now the turn of ports and canals.

As a super project, the investment in artificial canals is often tens of billions or even hundreds of billions.In the short term, investment can boost the economyIn the medium and long term, it can lead regional development through water transportation.

At present, my country's expressway and high-speed rail networks are gradually taking shape, and important trunk lines have basically been built or are under construction. There is not much room for large-scale construction in the future.

In contrast, water transportation is still a weak link in transportation investment, and the role of water transportation in the national logistics network needs to be improved.

The Opinions on Strengthening the Planning and Construction of Coastal and Inland Ports and Waterways in the New Era, issued in June this year, pointed out that it is necessary to accelerate the creation of a world-class port cluster.Build a main waterway that runs across the east and west and radiates from north to south.

In summary, inDomestic circulationIn an era when inland waterway transportation is becoming increasingly important, it has been entrusted with the important tasks of stimulating investment, supplementing transportation shortcomings, facilitating internal and external circulation, and leading regional development.

When inland waterway shipping returns to its heyday, a number of inland cities are expected to take off again.

03

Building a canal is not as easy as imagined.

Any super project must consider at least four factors:

Economic cost-effectiveness, financial affordability, technical feasibility, and strategic importance。

Sichuan-Tibet RailwayThe reason why it is being pushed forward with all efforts is that its strategic value is the first priority. Whether it is national defense security, national unity or promoting the development of the western region, it is of incomparable importance. (See "The largest province in the central and western regions is desperately building high-speed railways")

Shenzhen-Zhongshan ChannelThe reason why it has attracted so much attention is that its economic significance is the first priority. The scene of full capacity as soon as it was opened and traffic jams every weekend are enough to illustrate the economic value of this bridge.

Similarly, the reason why the Qiongzhou Strait cross-sea channel connecting Guangdong and Hainan and the Bohai Strait cross-sea tunnel connecting Shandong and Liaoning have been delayed is that they do not have advantages in many aspects such as economy, finance, technology and strategy.

Artificial canal, are truly super projects,The investment is often tens of billions, sometimes hundreds of billions, far exceeding the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link and even surpassing projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

Among them, the Pinglu Canal will take the lead and is expected to be completed in 2026.

Although Guangxi hasBeibu Gulf PortThis is the only outlet to the sea in the western region, but places like Nanning cannot directly access the Beibu Gulf due to mountainous barriers.

For a long time, goods from Nanning had to travel hundreds of kilometers via the Xijiang River to reach the Pearl River Delta.Guangzhou PortAfter the opening of the Pinglu Canal, the average inland waterway navigation distance can be reduced by more than 560 kilometers.

From a strategic perspective, Guangxi is an important member of the western development project and the outlet of the new western land-sea channel. The Pinglu Canal is of extraordinary significance.

In comparison, both the Hunan-Guangxi Canal and the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal have investments of over 100 billion yuan. Since the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal has to cross mountains and hills, the total investment of the entire line may exceed 300 billion yuan, comparable to the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.

From a technical point of view,The Hunan-Guangxi Canal is equivalent to a modern version of the Lingqu Canal. The technical difficulty is not high, but the section of the river to be renovated is too long, which increases the cost.

The Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Grand Canal has to cross mountains and ridges, especially the Nanling Mountains between Jiangxi and Guangdong, which was a barrier to north-south transportation in ancient times. The canal is located at the upper source of the river, and the amount of water supply is also a major constraint, which also increases the capital cost.

In terms of economic valueThe biggest beneficiary of the Hunan-Guangxi Canal is Hunan, followed by Guangxi, while the biggest beneficiary of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal is Jiangxi, followed by Guangdong and Zhejiang.

You know, Guangdong and Zhejiang are both trulyMaritime Provinces, with many world-class ports, such as Guangzhou Port, Shenzhen Port, Ningbo-Zhoushan Port and so on.

At the same time, both provinces have well-connected river transportation systems, such as the Dongjiang, Xijiang and Beijiang rivers in Guangdong, the Hangzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Qiantang River in Zhejiang, etc.

Therefore, although Guangdong and Zhejiang can use artificial canals to expand their economic hinterland, their enthusiasm is not as high as imagined.

04

Who will pay for the crazy canal digging?

Any super project,Money is the most important issue, no doubt about it.

The most popular high-speed rail was initially funded by the state, but nowLocal autonomous constructionHas become mainstream.

The same is true for the canal. Even for key national projects, it is difficult for the state to fully fund them, and local governments must bear the main or even all construction responsibilities.

The already builtJianghuai CanalThe central government invested more than 20 billion yuan, Anhui Province and cities jointly raised more than 40 billion yuan, and the remaining more than 20 billion yuan came from policy bank loans.

Under constructionPinglu Canal, mainly byGuangxi funded the construction, jointly funded by the district, Nanning, Qinzhou and other places, and at the same time obtained 7.273 billion yuan of national policy-based development financial instruments (funds).

Among the many canals, the investment costs of these two canals are not the highest.The investment in the Hunan-Guangxi Canal is about 150 billion yuan, while the total investment in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi-Guangdong Canal is more than 30 billion yuan.

You must know that neither Anhui, Guangxi, Hunan nor Jiangxi are economically or financially strong provinces, and their own expenditures still rely on transfer payments from eastern provinces.

There is a consensus on financial tighteningAt present, the central and western provinces alone are obviously unable to support one super project after another costing hundreds of billions of dollars.

However, provinces such as Guangdong and Zhejiang, which are related to the canal but not the dominant ones, focus their transportation construction on high-speed railways, airports and cross-river and cross-sea bridges, and are not very enthusiastic about artificial canals.

Therefore, in recent years, both Hunan and Jiangxi have applied to expand artificial canal projects.Incorporated into national planning and even national key projects, in order to obtain direct financial support at the national level.

In relevant documents from various places, “actively strive for national policies andFinancial supportThe saying is heard everywhere.

Therefore, if the two artificial canals are to be implemented, it would be difficult to advance them solely through coordination at the local level, and we can only hope for the promotion of forces at the national level.