Wuhan'S Dream Of "New Coastal Area"

      The Yangtze River is the fulcrum and the port links the world. At 9:30 a.m. on August 1, Yangluo international port water rail combined transport phase II project site, "COSCO marine blue" yard bridge stands in the middle of the yard, and most of the equipment such as wharf yard and wharf platform are in place. A train slowly drove into Yangluo port water rail intermodal terminal phase II. The container was transported from the railway area to the port terminal for loading and unloading by driverless transport vehicle, which realized the seamless docking of storage yard, warehouse, railway line and railway station.

"Yangluo international port water rail intermodal phase II project has opened the last kilometer of Wuhan Rail water intermodal transport, which can greatly reduce the transportation cost for cargo owners." Qin Fei, deputy general manager of Wuhan COSCO maritime port and wharf Co., Ltd., the investment and construction operator of the project, said in an interview with the 21st century economic reporter that the phase II project is a key project of water rail intermodal transportation of ports along the main line of the Yangtze River, and is also a key project of new infrastructure in the field of transportation. The project will build China's first railway loading and unloading automation terminal by adding "5g +" and other intelligent elements simultaneously, and promote the transformation and upgrading of the Yangtze River traditional port to a green and intelligent new port.

According to the plan, the second phase of Container Rail water intermodal transport of Yangluo port is planned to be completed and put into use in 2022. After a period of operation, it can form a throughput of 1 million TEUs and a capacity of 500000 TEUs. It will become the largest inland water rail intermodal hub and the first "smart port" in inland rivers.

Chen Jihong, a distinguished professor of Shenzhen University and editor in chief of Ocean & coastal management, an international marine journal, told the 21st century economic reporter that water rail intermodal transport can improve the connectivity of Wuhan's hinterland. Wuhan port with Yangluo port as the core has good water transportation conditions, but whether the plates can be bigger and the supply support can meet the needs of market development and resource maintenance.

Saving 500 yuan per standard case

Based on the resource endowment and location advantages of "getting China alone" and "getting water only superior", Hubei takes multimodal transportation as the main direction and strategic focus of building an integrated transportation system and developing modern logistics“ Speeding up the construction of modern comprehensive transportation system, improving the seamless connection of "air rail, public water" and multimodal transport collection and distribution system is an important link. " Zhu Hanqiao, director of Hubei Provincial Department of transportation, said that in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to actively adjust the transportation structure, develop multimodal transport, make various modes of transportation seamless and reduce social logistics costs.

The 21st century economic reporter learned from many shippers that compared with the first phase of water rail combined transport, the second phase can save 500 yuan of logistics cost for each standard container because of the "last kilometer" connection.

Chen Wangsheng (pseudonym), head of a trade e-commerce enterprise, disclosed to reporters that the first phase of water rail intermodal transport project was completed and put into trial operation at the end of 2017, and normal operation was realized in March of the next year. However, due to the fact that the railway station is about 2 km away from the port and wharf, that is to say, the boxes transported by water must be discharged through the gate of the wharf. Thus, the cost of one-time bill replacement shall be borne by the cargo owner.

The reporter has learned from many sources that the railway track line connected by the first phase project is an extension of the special line of Yangluo power plant, which belongs to the local railway. It has always provided power and coal transportation services for Yangluo power plant, but it is not its main business to provide container freight for the first phase of water rail intermodal transportation. Moreover, the local railway transportation in this section needs the support of Yangluo power plant for the corresponding power locomotive, and the power locomotive resources can only be realized after the power coal demand of Yangluo power plant is met, so there is a transportation timeliness problem.

The second phase project will introduce a section of railway line from the east end of Jiangbei railway Xianglushan station (to be renamed "Wuhan port station") in the railway operation area, so as to realize the seamless connection between water and rail transportation. Qin Fei told the 21st century economic reporter that the local railway from KaiKou station to Xianglushan station in the second phase of the project will be incorporated into the national railway network after the acceptance of the local railway, forming a through service.

Chen Wangsheng made an account for the reporter of the 21st century economic report. The goods delivered from the second phase port do not need to be charged for the transfer of local railway to national railway, and most of the local railway freight rates are higher than the national railway freight standard. After each link is optimized, the logistics cost of each standard box can be saved by 500 yuan.

Competition and cooperation among different subjects

According to the data of China Container Industry Association, in 2020, China's Port Container Rail water intermodal transport volume will be about 6.8 million TEU, with a year-on-year increase of 31.8%. The container volume of Qingdao port, Yingkou port and Ningbo Zhoushan port has exceeded 1 million TEU. However, in terms of the proportion of water rail intermodal transport volume of ports, developed countries usually account for 20% to 40%, while in China it is only 2.6% in 2020. The development potential of Container Rail water intermodal transport in domestic ports is large.

In July 2017, COSCO Shipping, another giant competing with the central shipping enterprise China Merchants Group in port layout, officially set up Wuhan. COSCO signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Wuhan municipal government to cooperate on the construction of Yangluo water rail intermodal transportation center. At the end of 2017, COSCO Shipping Port Co., Ltd. acquired 70% equity of Wuhan Yangluo Jiutong Port Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Wuhan Iron and Steel Group Logistics Co., Ltd., and established a joint venture company, Wuhan COSCO Maritime Port Terminal Co., Ltd., to operate Yangluo wharf and water rail intermodal transportation project.

"The two project operators are different, less than 10 kilometers apart. How to integrate resources to achieve common development and strength, rather than become homogeneous competition, is a problem worth considering." The above-mentioned shipping personage told the 21st century economic reporter that Wuhan port and shipping development group, the predecessor of Hubei port group, has been working in Wuhan for many years. According to the original plan, the second phase of water rail intermodal transport is still operated by the group. However, the port industry is a capital intensive industry. One of the most important problems in the development of water rail intermodal transport is that the modernization degree of ports and railways is not the same.

"Due to various factors, the local government eventually introduced COSCO, the world's largest integrated shipping company." The source said that the local government may value the shipping, port, logistics, financial and other resources in COSCO's shipping system to smooth the whole supply chain of the Yangtze River.

Chen Jihong said that the investors of different projects are different, and the capital operation problems need to be solved. When the capital operation is difficult to cooperate, it needs to rely on the government policy coordination to promote, but the long-term goal is still to focus on capital structure and corporate governance“ The relevant experience of Zhejiang Haigang group can be used for reference. " Chen Jihong said that the group's overall planning and unified management of its personnel, finance and materials, and the port's operation is relatively independent.

Enhance the connection capacity of Wuhan Port Hinterland

"At present, the development of Wuhan port with Yangluo port as the core is still commendable." Chen Jihong said that if the above problems can be better solved, water rail combined transport will improve the hinterland connection capacity of Wuhan port.

Wuhan is located in the middle section of the golden waterway of the Yangtze River. It is the highest point of 10000 ton sea going upward from the Yangtze Estuary. At the same time, Wuhan is one of the four major railway transport hubs in China, connecting Beijing Guangzhou, Handan, Wuhan Kowloon and Beijing Kowloon lines, and the transportation lines cover Hubei Province and surrounding provinces and cities, Northwest China and Yunnan Guizhou region. In short, the geographical location of Wuhan is like drawing a perfect "cross". There are enough extension and hinterland in East, West, North and south. Yangluo port water rail combined transport phase II has a typical specimen significance.

Wan Ying, deputy director of the administrative management center of Changjiang New Silk Road International Logistics (Wuhan) Co., Ltd., introduced that the first phase of water rail intermodal transport has opened up two-way domestic and foreign trade transport channels of "Shanghai Wuhan Sichuan Chongqing" and "Shanghai Wuhan Shaanxi and Xinjiang" through Yangluo. According to statistics, in the current throughput, Hubei local inbound and outbound cargo source is about 30%, Southwest China accounts for about 50%, and Northwest China accounts for about 20%.

According to the data, the proportion of container water rail intermodal transport in Yangluo port area has doubled from less than 1.3% in 2017, and 33000 TEUs will be completed in 2019. However, Chen Jihong said that water rail intermodal transport of some inland ports has always had problems such as poor coordination and low level of informatization, which seriously affected the logistics efficiency. COSCO's experience in the construction of smart ports at home and abroad will play an exemplary role in the transformation and upgrading of the Yangtze River traditional port to a green and intelligent new port.

Qin Fei said that the Abu Dhabi terminal in UAE, which was put into operation in 2019, is the latest automatic overseas terminal invested and constructed by COSCO Maritime Port Co., Ltd. Wuhan COSCO Maritime Port Co., Ltd. learned from Abu Dhabi wharf when designing the automation scheme of phase II project. The Unmanned Container truck in smart terminal is the first experimental product of Xiamen high sea terminal of COSCO Shipping Port Co., Ltd. after practical test, it is directly introduced into phase II project.

Qin Fei said that in order to improve the operation efficiency after operation, the company is trying to break through the information barrier with the railway transportation department. In the future, it will exchange information with the railway transportation department on the shipment or arrival of wagons and containers by digital means, so as to facilitate timely corresponding processing.

According to the data, in the first quarter of 2021, the volume of water rail intermodal transport of domestic river ports has reached 49200 TEUs, up 66.1% year on year. The second phase of water rail intermodal transport of Yangluo port can form 500000 TEUs of water rail intermodal transport after operation and use, becoming the largest water rail intermodal base of the Yangtze River.

Zhang Lin, Secretary of the working committee and director of the Management Committee of Wuhan Xingang Port, said that the phase II project of water rail intermodal transport will accelerate its expansion to the hinterland markets in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and central and Western China, profoundly change the logistics mode and transportation pattern of the Yangtze River Basin and the central and western regions, and help Wuhan port become the sea port of the central and western regions.

Multimodal transport in full bloom

Yangluo port water rail combined transport project is a miniature of the collection and distribution system supported by multimodal transport in recent years, including Hubei Province.

In the previous development, the development of China's eastern coastal areas was significantly better than that of the central and western regions, resulting in the past production and consumption, import and export were mainly concentrated in the East, and the demand for short and medium distance transportation of container goods was relatively large. However, water rail combined transport has obvious advantages in long-distance transportation. In addition, there are few central container stations, and most railway freight stations do not have the conditions for intermodal transportation.

As of early March 2021, the Ministry of transport has announced three batches of 70 multimodal transport demonstration projects involving 28 provinces. According to the 21st century economic report, five projects have been listed in Hubei Province, including Wuhan, Huangshi, Yichang and Ezhou, ranking first in China. Secondly, Guangdong, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shandong and Xinjiang have four multimodal transport demonstration projects.

According to the data, in 2020, the first three batches of 70 multimodal transport demonstration projects will complete a total of 4.8 million TEUs. China's ports completed 6.87 million TEUs of water rail container transport, an increase of 29.6% year-on-year. Some analysts said that compared with developed countries, this scale still lags behind, which also shows that the industry has a large space for growth.

In May this year, the three-year action plan for promoting high-quality development of multimodal transport in Hubei Province (2021-2023) was officially released. The overall goal is to preliminarily build the national inland multimodal transport center and the national multimodal transport innovation demonstration zone by 2023.

According to the plan, in the next three years, Hubei Province will promote 72 key multimodal transport construction projects, including railway, water transportation, highway engineering, and multimodal transport freight hub (Logistics Park), so as to realize the effective connection of various transportation modes. Of the total investment of 162.3 billion yuan, the infrastructure construction of collection and distribution accounts for 146 billion yuan.

At present, the total logistics cost of Hubei Province accounts for about 14.26% of GDP, ranking ninth in China.

Chen Jihong said that logistics is an important part of the circulation system. Under the new development pattern with domestic large circulation as the main body and domestic and international dual circulation promoting each other, we should give full play to the comparative advantages and combination efficiency of various transportation modes, promote the convergence of different transportation modes, and guide traditional transportation enterprises to develop into modern logistics enterprises, It can effectively stimulate market vitality and endogenous power.