“Shipping Zhejiang” 汇通江河畅达海港

The golden autumn sunlight casts its glow on the Babao Lock in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, outlining the unique contours of water channels in Jiangnan. This is the first dual-line 1,000-ton-class ship lock located in a tidal river section nationwide and serves as the core hub connecting the Qiantang River with the second channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. Watching one cargo ship after another exit the lock in single file, Li Chuanzhen, a veteran ship captain with over 20 years of experience, said that the new route now saves one or two days compared to the old canal: "The navigation conditions are better, and it takes only about an hour to pass through the lock."

Zhejiang is a major province for water transportation, endowed with rivers, lakes, and sea advantages. Since the beginning of this year, Zhejiang's transportation sector has focused on the core goals of achieving "100 million tons of cargo shifting to waterways and quadrupling logistics efficiency," comprehensively advancing high-level "Shipping Zhejiang" construction, optimizing the layout of the river-to-sea waterway logistics network, and strongly supporting high-quality economic and social development.

Driven by the "Shipping Zhejiang" service promotion mechanism, Zhejiang has accelerated the upgrading and expansion of its waterway network. The Jinhua-Wucheng segment of the Qiantang River has been completed and accepted, adding 8.7 kilometers of new 1,000-ton-class inland waterways. The Huzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal has secured project codes and completed survey and design tenders, while the Jiaxing section is advancing the signing of agreements between two provinces. Construction has begun on short-branch waterways such as Meitai Port and Miaohu Line. The capacity enhancement of inland terminals has also entered the "fast lane," with the completion of seven terminal projects including the Jiaxing Haining Xingguang Operating Area, adding 46 berths for inland vessels over 500 tons.

Since the beginning of the year, Zhejiang's transportation sector has continuously adjusted its transport structure, accelerating the shift from road to water. It has established key enterprise databases for cargo owners, ports, and shipping companies, adding six new inland container shipping routes, including Zhapu to Nanjing Qiba and Xiasha to Nantong, bringing the total number of routes to 90. The Quzhou to Zhapu foreign trade route has achieved regular liner operations, opening an "at-home gateway to the sea" channel for inland foreign trade.

Green intelligence is a key feature of a modern inland waterway network. This year, Zhejiang formulated the "Implementation Plan for the Green and Intelligent Development of Inland Vessel Industry in Zhejiang Province" and issued provincial-level carbon peak subsidy fund details, providing additional support for constructing new inland new-energy cargo ships. A total of 30 new-energy ships have been added. Zhejiang has established the nation's first all-green logistics corridor for sea-river combined transportation, added two zero-carbon routes including Xiasha to Zhapu, and built 109 port shore power facilities.

Aiming to deepen the integrated development of waterway transportation and tourism, Zhejiang issued the "Action Plan for Zhejiang Province's Integrated Waterway Transport and Tourism Development (2026-2030)." The plan involves constructing high-quality passenger routes, promoting the establishment of the Hangzhou Waterway Transport and Tourism Integration Pilot Zone, and introducing nine convenience measures for the high-quality development of the inland yacht industry. In the first three quarters of this year, the inland waterway passenger transport volume across the province reached 12.87 million trips, a year-on-year increase of 16.2%.

As Zhejiang vigorously advances the construction of world-class strong ports and a high-level "Shipping Zhejiang," a modernized waterway logistics network — integrating rivers, connecting harbors, radiating the central plain, and linking trillion-level industries — is rapidly taking shape.