Promoting Inland Waterway Transport in the People's Republic of China

By Asian Development Bank

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has the world’s longest inland waterway system. Despite the system’s potential and the government’s policies encouraging its development, inland waterway transport (IWT) has not been developed as much as other transport modes. This publication examines the constraints in developing IWT based on a study in the PRC’s Hunan province. Six major challenges threatening the viability of IWT and its integration into the whole logistics chain have been identified. The analyses and case study lead to recommendations that are relevant not just to the PRC but also to other developing countries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Release date: Aug 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9789292575229

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PROMOTING INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORT IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)

© 2016 Asian Development Bank

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Some rights reserved. Published in 2016.

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ISBN 978-92-9257-521-2 (Print), 978-92-9257-522-9 (e-ISBN)

Publication Stock No. RPT168324

Cataloging-In-Publication Data

Asian Development Bank.

Promoting inland waterway transport in the People’s Republic of China.

Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2016.

1. Inland waterway transport.         2. Rivers.         3. Transport.         I. Asian Development Bank.

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Contents

Tables and Figures

Foreword

The Hunan Xiangjiang Inland Waterway Transport Development Project has been underway since 2012. This is the first inland waterway transport project supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), through a loan of $150 million, in line with ADB’s Sustainable Transport Initiatives. The project aims to improve the transport conditions of Xiangjiang, the largest river in the PRC’s Hunan province, and promote the inland waterway transport (IWT) as a whole in Hunan. It includes both infrastructure provision and policy study.

IWT is a low-cost, low-pollution, and low-carbon mass transport mode and has good potential to reduce logistics costs, fuel consumption, air emission, traffic congestion, noise, and road accidents. The PRC has the world’s largest IWT system in terms of length and freight volume. However, IWT has been less developed than highways and railways due to a combination of factors such as infrastructure deficiencies, investment, and institutional weaknesses including coordination challenges across the organizations at the local, regional, and national levels.

This publication presents an overview of the PRC’s IWT sector, provides insights into constraints in developing IWT based on a study on Hunan province, introduces international good practice in encouraging IWT development and IWT management, and makes recommendations that will be useful to the PRC as well as other developing countries.

Acknowledgments

This publication was developed based on the study report prepared by the consortium of UNICONSULT, Hamburg Port Training Institute, and Wang Jing & Co., the consultant engaged under the Loan 2962-PRC Hunan Xiangjiang Inland Waterway Transport Project. Tyrrell Duncan, technical advisor (Transport); and Robert Guild, director, Transport and Communications Division, East Asia Department provided oversight to complete the publication. Xiaohong Yang, director, Transport and Communications Division, Central and West Asia Department, originated the terms of reference for the study. Li Cai, unit head, project administration, Transport and Communications Division, East Asia Department, directed the study and compiled materials for the publication.

Special thanks go to the Hunan Provincial Department of Transport, Hunan Water Transport Administration Bureau, and Hunan Water Transportation Construction & Investment Group for their contributions to the study.

Weijun Fei, vice-president, China Waterborne Transport Research Institute; Kaoru Kasahara, regional cooperation specialist, Southeast Asia Department; Gloria Gerilla-Teknomo, senior transport sector officer, East Asia Department, and Richard