Promoting inland Waterway transport in the People’s republic of china 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. about the asian development bank ADB’s vision is an Asia and Pacific region free of poverty. Its mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people. Despite the region’s many successes, it remains home to half of the world’s extreme poor. ADB is committed to reducing poverty through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Based in Manila, ADB is owned by 67 members, including 48 from the region. Its main instruments for helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. Promoting inland WaterWay transPort in the PeoPle’s rePublic of china ISBN: 978-92-9257-521-2 AsiAn Development BAnk 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK www.adb.org EARD Promoting Inland Waterway Transport_COVER - PRINT 7July2016.indd 1 8/10/2016 10:45:43 AM PROMOTING INLAND WATERWAY TRANSPORT IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) © 2016 Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines Tel +63 2 632 4444; Fax +63 2 636 2444 www.adb.org Some rights reserved. Published in 2016. Printed in the Philippines. 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. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. 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Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda iii Contents Tables and Figures v Foreword vii Acknowledgments viii Abbreviations ix Executive Summary x 1 Overview of the Inland Waterway System in the People’s Republic of China 1 The Network 1 Market Share 3 Investment 5 Inland Waterway Transport Management Structure in the People’s Republic of China 5 Inland Waterway Transport Development Policy Directions 6 Conclusion 9 2 Constraints in Promoting Inland Waterway Transport in the People’s Republic of China: Insights from Hunan Province 10 Market Constraints 11 Funding Constraints for Inland Waterway Transport 14 Constraints in Ports and Logistics System 17 Information Constraints 20 Technical Constraints 20 Regulatory Constraints 21 Conclusion 29 iv Contents 3 Promoting Inland Waterway Transport: Europe’s Experience 30 Introduction 30 European Union Marco Polo Program 30 European Union Funding Program Trans-European Network for Transport 34 The European Union Funding Program INTERREG IV-A Upper Rhine 36 The European Union Funding Program NAIADES 37 The European Union Funding Projects PLATINA and PLATINA 2 38 Conclusion 41 4 Inland Waterway Transport Management: International Practice 42 Introduction 42 Waterway Infrastructure Management Companies in Belgium 42 Rijkswaterstaat in the Netherlands 44 Inland Waterway Transport Management in Germany 45 Waterway Management System in Austria 51 Institutional Inland Port Reform in Canada 56 Conclusion 59 5 Recommendations 60 Introduction 60 Reducing Economic Disparity Within Provinces and Coordinating Planning and Development of Transport and Land Use 60 Promoting Integrated Transport Planning and Inter-Modality 61 Developing Inland Ports 61 Improving Customer Service 62 Directing Inland Waterway Transport Incentive Programs toward Market Players 63 Managing Relationship between Government Offices and State-Owned Enterprises 64 Enhancing Stakeholder Participation 64 Conclusion 65 Appendix: Multicriteria Analysis 66 References 69 v Tables and Figures Figures 1 River System in the People’s Republic of China 2 2 Freight Turnover in the People’s Republic of China 3 3 Waterway Transport Freight Turnover 4 4 Cargo in River Ports, People’s Republic of China 4 5 Investment in Different Modes of Transport, People’s Republic of China 5 6 Hunan River System 11 7 Location of Large Enterprises in Hunan 12 8 Economic Potential in Hunan Province: Findings from Multicriteria Analysis 13 9 Market Share versus Resource Allocation, 2013 16 10 Highways, Railways, and Waterways in Hunan 19 11 Hunan Water Transport Administration Bureau Structure 22 12 Marco Polo Facts and Figures 33 13 Granulometric Riverbed Stabilization 55 14 Fairway Installations in Austria 55 Tables 1 Major Rivers in the People’s Republic of China 1 2 Hunan Provincial Department of Transport’s Funding Allocation in 2013 14 3 Freight Transport Volume and Growth in Hunan 15 4 Freight Transport Turnover Volume and Growth in Hunan 15 5 Development of Railways, Highways, and Waterways 16 6 Freight Turnover 17 vii Foreword he Hunan Xiangjiang Inland Waterway Transport Development Project has been Tunderway 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. Ayumi Konishi Director General East Asia Department viii 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.