JINAN, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- In the mild early winter, the Jining section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal bustles with activity, as cargo ships shuttle back and forth across the shimmering water.
This ancient "golden waterway," spanning nearly 3,200 kilometers and dating back over 2,500 years, continues to serve as a vital artery for north-south trade and economic connectivity and now embraces smart technologies to enhance efficiency.
Captain Hu Yusong of the vessel Jining Port and Shipping 6006 smoothly navigated the route while checking real-time channel depth and lock queue updates on his smartphone.
"In the past, we had to rely on weather cues and local advice, but now a tap on the screen gives us all the information we need," he said.
This shift highlights how digital tools are transforming once-uncertain journeys plagued by delays at locks and ports.
Inland waterway transport has historically faced bottlenecks due to factors such as lock scheduling and port coordination, resulting in prolonged waiting times. Today, intelligent systems developed along the canal provide live updates and electronic lock passage applications, significantly improving the experience for crews.
For instance, the North Jiangsu Canal in east China's Jiangsu Province recently unveiled innovations, such as an integrated data platform and AI-driven dispatch, enabling seamless operations akin to those of highway ETC systems.
Crew member Sun Yangeng, who frequently travels this route, attested to the changes: "We no longer need to disembark -- just submit a lock passage request via phone." He noted that vessels can now pass through five to six locks in a day, compared to just one previously.
These upgrades have increased hazard detection accuracy by 60 percent, cut emergency response times by about 30 percent, and expanded annual throughput capacity by 100 million tonnes across 10 locks.
At Jining's Longgong Port, east China's Shandong Province, automated guided vehicles, remotely coordinated by a digital system, efficiently load and unload containers from ships.
Gu Qiang, head of the dispatch command center at Longgong Port, said: "Traditional inland ports struggled with imprecise handling and low efficiency, but our 'smart brain' has solved this." Using AI and machine vision, unmanned vehicles align precisely with cranes, boosting operational efficiency by over 80 percent compared to conventional methods.
China's inland waterway sector has seen remarkable growth, with key metrics like freight volume and container throughput doubling in recent years. By 2024, the mileage of high-grade waterways reached 16,000 kilometers, a 62 percent increase since 2012.
Wang Yalin, chairman of Jining Port and Shipping Longgong Port Co., Ltd., projected that the port's container throughput will rise from 230,000 TEUs in 2024 to 370,000 TEUs in 2025, with plans for 18 smart berths and a dedicated railway line to eventually handle 800,000 TEUs annually. ■
