On July 31, Huai'an City held a press conference on accelerating the construction of a more distinctive "Water Transport in Huai'an". Under the framework of building a more distinctive "Water Transport in Jiangsu", Huai'an City adheres to high-position planning, high-standard construction and efficient promotion of water transport development. In May this year, it issued the Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Building of a More Distinctive "Water Transport in Huai'an" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), which draws a grand blueprint for accelerating the construction of a modern water transport system in the city and provides strategic guidance and action plan for accelerating the building of a more distinctive "Water Transport in Huai'an".

The Plan clarifies 14 key tasks in 6 aspects and arranges 23 key port and shipping projects, with a total investment of over RMB 30 billion. According to the blueprint drawn up in the Plan, by 2025, the city's planned total mileage of second-class channels will reach nearly 300 kilometers, and the comprehensive port throughput capacity will reach 170 million tons. Container routes will basically cover major cities along the Huai River Ecological Economic Belt and in the Huaihai Economic Zone, helping consolidate and improve the position as a major inland river port in China and initially build a national inland river shipping center. By 2035, a second-class channel network connecting rivers and seas with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Salt River, Huai River and other channels as the main axis will be built, and a modern port featuring "first-class facilities, technologies, management and services" will be built. A national inland river shipping center with concentrated shipping factors, perfect supporting services, prosperous transport market, outstanding hub function and significant radiation effect will be fully built.

In order to further give full play to the advantages of Huai'an water transport and accelerate the construction of a national inland river shipping center, Huai'an City has drafted the Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Building of a More Distinctive "Water Transport in Huai'an" according to the requirements of Opinions of the Provincial Government on Accelerating the Construction of a More Distinctive "Water Transport in Jiangsu" and Notice of the General Office of the Provincial Government on Printing and Distributing the Three-Year Action Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a More Distinctive "Water Transport in Jiangsu" (2024-2026) based on local conditions and current opportunities. With the joint efforts of all parties, the Plan was deliberated and approved at the 30th executive meeting of the 9th Huai'an Municipal People's Government in May this year and officially issued. It clarifies the overall goal of promoting the construction of "Water Transport in Huai'an", that is, to give full play to the characteristic advantages of Huai'an as a water transport hub connecting rivers and seas, closely focus on the construction of smooth and efficient high-grade channel network and first-class ports, optimize and adjust the transport structure, build a modern shipping logistics system, pay attention to the integration of port, industry and city, deepen smart empowerment and green transformation, accelerate the construction of a modern water transport system that is safe, convenient, efficient, green, economical, inclusive and flexible, and build a national inland river shipping center.

Since the "14th Five-Year Plan", Huai'an has given full play to its unique advantages in water transport resources and promoted the formation of an inland river trunk line channel network that runs vertically and horizontally, radiates basins, connects rivers and seas, and connects cities and ports. At present, the city has 73 channels with a total mileage of 1,483 kilometers, including 247.13 kilometers of third-class and above high-grade channels, making the city rank third in the province. Third-class and above high-grade channels account for 16.7%, making the city rank second in the province. After active efforts, the Salt River Channel and Huai River Seaward Channel (Hongshantou-Beijing-Hangzhou Canal Section) were included in the Trunk Line Channel Network Planning of Jiangsu Province (2023-2035). There are three second-class channels, namely Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Salt River and Huai River seaward channels, and two third-class channels, namely Jinbao Channel and Zhangfu River Channel. The planned mileage of second-class channels has increased from 91 kilometers to 297 kilometers. Five special branch line channels connecting the ports and parks, such as Mojian River Channel, were included in the provincial planning, making the city rank first in the province in terms of quantity. The planned coastline of the city's ports is 93.34 kilometers, and the utilized coastline is 26.73 kilometers. There are 7 port areas, 93 wharfs and 358 berths, including 90 berths of above 1,000-ton level, with an annual comprehensive throughput capacity of 110 million tons and a container throughput capacity of 500,000 TEUs. The city's port has been identified by the Ministry of Transport as one of the main inland river ports in China.