Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China

Most policy makers readily acknowledge the economic, environmental, and social benefits of moving freight and passengers by waterways. However, why do many countries struggle to develop and revive their inland waterways transportation (IWT)? One reason is because of the dearth of successful exam...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Aritua, Bernard, Cheng, Lu, van Liere, Richard, de Leijer, Harrie
Format:	Book
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2020
Subjects:	TRANSPORT POLICY WATERWAY TRANSPORT INLAND WATERWAY NAVIGATION TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Online Access:	https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/908191600317351237/blue-routes-for-a-new-era-developing-inland-waterways-transportation-in-china http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34415

id	okr-10986-34415
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-344152021-05-25T10:54:39Z Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China Aritua, Bernard Cheng, Lu van Liere, Richard de Leijer, Harrie TRANSPORT POLICY WATERWAY TRANSPORT INLAND WATERWAY NAVIGATION TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Most policy makers readily acknowledge the economic, environmental, and social benefits of moving freight and passengers by waterways. However, why do many countries struggle to develop and revive their inland waterways transportation (IWT)? One reason is because of the dearth of successful examples of IWT revival. Aside from the United States and Europe, which have been relatively successful, the experience of many emerging countries has been a tale of intensive use followed by total collapse of the IWT sector. However, the combination of societal, economic, and environmental imperatives is motivating reassessment, as countries look to develop sustainable transport systems and to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. China’s experience has similarities to the experience of many countries and offers valuable lessons. This report is the result of an in-depth retrospective study of IWT in China and fills a gap in global knowledge. From an IWT system that carried less than 150 million tons in 1978, IWT in China carried 3.74 billion tons of cargo in 2018—six times more than either the European Union or the United States. China now has the busiest IWT system in the world. China’s leadership in IWT development started with years of investment in infrastructure that transformed lowgrade waterways, allowing larger vessels to use the waterways, which resulted in higher transport efficiency and lower cost. China also invested in development of skills and technical know-how. To date there are 127,000 km of inland waterways in China that have high-quality navigability and a good safety record. During the period of rapid economic development, China also adopted or developed internationally recognized technical innovations for river classification, vessel replacement, navigation technology, and environmental protection. What China achieved is informative. In particular, how and why China improved IWT provides valuable lessons for other countries. 2020-09-02T18:17:21Z 2020-09-02T18:17:21Z 2020-09-16 Book https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/908191600317351237/blue-routes-for-a-new-era-developing-inland-waterways-transportation-in-china 978-1-4648-1584-3 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34415 International Development in Focus CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research East Asia and Pacific China
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
topic	TRANSPORT POLICY WATERWAY TRANSPORT INLAND WATERWAY NAVIGATION TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
spellingShingle	TRANSPORT POLICY WATERWAY TRANSPORT INLAND WATERWAY NAVIGATION TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Aritua, Bernard Cheng, Lu van Liere, Richard de Leijer, Harrie Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China
geographic_facet	East Asia and Pacific China
relation	International Development in Focus
description	Most policy makers readily acknowledge the economic, environmental, and social benefits of moving freight and passengers by waterways. However, why do many countries struggle to develop and revive their inland waterways transportation (IWT)? One reason is because of the dearth of successful examples of IWT revival. Aside from the United States and Europe, which have been relatively successful, the experience of many emerging countries has been a tale of intensive use followed by total collapse of the IWT sector. However, the combination of societal, economic, and environmental imperatives is motivating reassessment, as countries look to develop sustainable transport systems and to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. China’s experience has similarities to the experience of many countries and offers valuable lessons. This report is the result of an in-depth retrospective study of IWT in China and fills a gap in global knowledge. From an IWT system that carried less than 150 million tons in 1978, IWT in China carried 3.74 billion tons of cargo in 2018—six times more than either the European Union or the United States. China now has the busiest IWT system in the world. China’s leadership in IWT development started with years of investment in infrastructure that transformed lowgrade waterways, allowing larger vessels to use the waterways, which resulted in higher transport efficiency and lower cost. China also invested in development of skills and technical know-how. To date there are 127,000 km of inland waterways in China that have high-quality navigability and a good safety record. During the period of rapid economic development, China also adopted or developed internationally recognized technical innovations for river classification, vessel replacement, navigation technology, and environmental protection. What China achieved is informative. In particular, how and why China improved IWT provides valuable lessons for other countries.
format	Book
author	Aritua, Bernard Cheng, Lu van Liere, Richard de Leijer, Harrie
author_facet	Aritua, Bernard Cheng, Lu van Liere, Richard de Leijer, Harrie
author_sort	Aritua, Bernard
title	Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China
title_short	Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China
title_full	Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China
title_fullStr	Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China
title_full_unstemmed	Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China
title_sort	blue routes for a new era : developing inland waterways transportation in china
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2020
url	https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/908191600317351237/blue-routes-for-a-new-era-developing-inland-waterways-transportation-in-china http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34415
_version_	1764480850069553152

Blue Routes for a New Era : Developing Inland Waterways Transportation in China

Similar Items