Since the first general survey of Chinese inland waterways conducted by the Ministry of Communications in 1979, the transportation and the comprehensive development and utilization of water resources have progressed more rapidly. Distinct improvement has been made in waterway construction and great changes have taken place in the overall conditions and technical structure concerning our inland waterways. With the support from the State Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Communications launched the second national investigation into the inland waterway conditions in order to grasp all the basic accurate information of inland waterways in a systematic way, to further standardize our work on surveying waterways, to enhance our information management level, to make inland waterways play a bigger role in stimulating both national and regional economy and finally to promote the development of inland shipping business.

The second national survey fixed Dec. 31st, 2002 as the standard survey time. The checked inland waterways ranged from the already technically rated ones to those non-rated ones which yet had witnessed waterway construction or were of shipping development value. The survey covered basic information on the general condition of inland waterways, the current condition of different inland waterways, hubs along the waterways, waterway crossover constructions, riverside facilities, waterway authorities, maintenance strength, and so on, with nearly 180 important indicators in total. The specific work included the collection and sorting of basic information and the establishment of a GIS-based (Geographical Information System) “National Basic Information Management System of Inland Waterways” and the electronic mapping of our inland waterways.

According to the survey, by the end of 2002, the mileage of inland waterways totaled 135,100 km, 62,900 km of which is mid-rate waterways, an increase by 27,300 km and 5,400 km respectively. The Yangtze River system had a mileage up to 66,400 km that accounted for 49.13% of the nation’s total, with 2,807 km trunk-stream mileage; the Huai River system 18,800 km, 13.89% of the national total; the Pearl River system, 18,200 km, 13.49%; and the Heilongjiang River system 8,500 km, 6.26%. The navigable waterway mileage was 123,100 km, accounting for 91.13% of the nation’s total waterway mileage.

The major date of the second national survey of inland waterways are as follows.

The national total mileage of inland waterways (Categorized by technical rating)

The national total mileage of inland waterways (Categorized by different river systems)

The national total mileage of inland waterways (Categorized by patterns of water areas)

The national total mileage of navigable inland waterways (Categorized by technical rating)

The national total mileage of navigable inland waterways (Categorized by different river systems)

The national total mileage of navigable inland waterways  (Categorized by patterns of water areas)

Appendix: Explanations on major indicators