"Hubei Province Water Transport Development '15th Five-Year Plan' Released"

September 7, reporters learned from the Hubei Provincial Department of Transportation that the "Hubei Province Water Transport Development '15th Five-Year Plan'" has been approved by the Hubei Provincial People's Government and officially issued. The plan proposes that by 2030, a modern inland waterway transportation system that is convenient, smooth, economically efficient, green, intensive, intelligent, advanced, and safe will be basically established, accelerating the transformation from a "major water transport province" to a "strong water transport province" with high-quality development.

It is reported that the plan includes 155 key water transport projects with a total investment of 169.1 billion yuan, an increase of 135% compared to the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Hubei Province plans to complete 75 billion yuan in fixed asset investment in water transport. Looking ahead to 2035, the modern inland waterway transportation system will be more complete, strongly supporting Hubei in becoming a transportation powerhouse.

During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Hubei's water transport development will focus on accelerating the construction of "Water Transport in Hubei" as the main line, targeting four key directions: "integration and fusion, safety enhancement, digital and intelligent upgrades, and green transformation." By 2030, a high-grade waterway network of "one horizontal, one vertical, one network, and multiple branches" and a "five main, ten key" port cluster will be rapidly constructed, striving for significant improvements in facility capacity, integrated fusion, safety capabilities, digital empowerment, and green development.

To achieve this goal, the plan outlines seven key tasks. In terms of waterway construction, efforts will be made to accelerate the construction of the new Three Gorges water transport channel, continuously promote the deep-water channel improvement in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and steadily advance preliminary research on the 6-meter-deep waterway from Yichang to Wuhan and the 8-meter-deep waterway from Wuhan to Anqing. Additionally, the Han River waterway improvement and the construction of the second-line ship locks at key hubs will be fully accelerated, enabling vessels of up to 3,000 tons to navigate below Xiangyang on the Han River.

In terms of port construction, a modern port cluster of "five main, ten key" will be developed, centered on Wuhan container hub port, Huangshi bulk commodity hub port, Yichang Three Gorges shipping logistics hub port, Jingzhou coal transfer hub port, and Xiangyang Han River logistics hub port. Efforts will focus on solidifying Wuhan Yangluo Port's position as a container hub, strengthening green building material distribution ports like Huangshi and Huanggang, and optimizing roll-on/roll-off automobile hub ports like Wuhan and Yichang.

In terms of multimodal transport, all major port areas will achieve full railway access. The scale of river-sea combined transport and near-sea direct shipping routes will be expanded, and routes to ASEAN and Asia-Pacific regions will be developed. Connections between China-Europe freight trains and direct shipping routes to Asia will be strengthened, creating an international "train + liner" rail-water combined transport corridor.

In terms of smart and green transformation, digital and intelligent upgrades will be promoted for waterway and port infrastructure. The application of electric ships will be accelerated in short-distance passenger and cargo transport scenarios, while methanol-powered vessels will be promoted for long-distance, large-tonnage cargo transport scenarios. The Han River green demonstration waterway will be fully completed.