River plans for 'golden waterway'

Liujiang River embraces the city of Liuzhou in a U-turn shape and the city's port is the largest on the upper reach of the river.

The port and the river, which can accommodate ships of up to 500 tons, have been the main way for people in the city to reach Wuzhou, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao for more than 1,000 years.

The approval of the Xijiang River economic belt by the State Council gave the go-ahead for the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to dredge and construct five main river channels.

Once complete, the move will mean the Liujiang River will be able to accommodate ships of about 2,000 tons.

The Xijiang River is 1,480 kilometers long and connects Nanning, Wuzhou, Baise, Laibin, Liuzhou and Chongzuo.

The river's branches extend to Guilin, Hezhou, Hechi and Yulin, over a length of 1,218 kilometers.

The planned construction of inland waterways will be a key project for Liuzhou to carry out the Xijiang River economic belt strategy.

The Liujiang River and the Rongjiang River are the two main water routes through Liuzhou with an overall length of 360 kilometers.

By the end of last year, Liuzhou had about 637 ships and the city's overall transport capacity was 300,000 tons, 4.1 percent up from 2012. The development of inland river transportation will make a good use of the city's ships and better serve the industries and tourism in Liuzhou.

Waterway transportation is also environmentally friendly. One advantage of inland river transportation is the low costs, low pollution and low consumption of energy, especially for large amounts of cargo. According to the plans for the inland river transport system, it will not occupy farmland.

The fast development of Liuzhou's economy is expected to create higher demand for larger transportation capacity and industries along the rivers will gain development opportunities in the process.

Liuzhou port's main cargo includes coal, metal ore, iron and steel, construction materials, cement, chemical fertilizer and chemical industry products, machinery equipment and electronics, and agricultural products.

The overall cargo handling capacity of Liuzhou port last year was about 60 million tons.

Liuzhou government estimated that the port's overall transport volume would hit 9.2 million tons in 2015, 20 million tons in 2020, and 41 million tons in 2030.

If 2,000-ton ships can go from Liuzhou to Guangdong along the river, the planned upgrade will be hugely beneficial to Liuzhou's enterprises, as it will save them tremendous amounts on transportation costs.

liyang@chinadaily.com.cn