China has officially put into operation its Jianghuai Canal recently. On the morning of August 19, a ceremony marking the launch of the first 9 container routes of Jianghuai Canal was held at Zhoukou Central Port and Xinyang Huaibin Port in Central China's Henan province as well as Hefei Paihe Port, Fuyang Yingzhou Port and Wuhu Port in East China's Anhui province simultaneously.

The 9 container routes will greatly facilitate the exchanges among the 5 cities of the 2 provinces by lowering logistics costs by 200-300 yuan/TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit).

The voyage between Huaibin and Hefei has been shortened from 7 to 3 days with the distance reduced from 995 kilometers to 335 kilometers. Besides, the voyage between Huaibinand Wuhu has been shortened from 6 days to 4 days with the distance reduced from 850 kilometers to 480 kilometers.

With its advantages of large volume, low cost, low energy consumption and low pollution, inland shipping is a key transportation sector to promote green development and achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Spanning the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Haihe River, Henan has foundations and strengths to develop water freight.

Being one of the 36 major inland river ports in China, Zhoukou Central Port is also the largest modern comprehensive port and container port in Henan. Xinyang Huaibin Port, the starting point of the water freight route on the mainstream of Huaihe River, is the closest port of Henan to the Yangtze River and most accessible to the coastal cities.