Key issues and solutions for integrated development of national water network and inland shipping network

HUANG Yuyun; YANG Zhuoyuan; CHENG Wen; YANG Qiuliang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1000-1123.2026.04.002

Abstract：Requirements for the integrated development of water network and shipping are proposed in the Guideline on National Water Network Construction,which focuses on promoting the in-depth integration of water network and shipping and enhancing the connection of water network and water transportation passage,thus providing a core principle for the two-network integrated development.To explore the key issues and solutions for the integrated development of the national water network and the inland shipping network,an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the two from both narrow and broad perspectives is conducted based on summarizing the characteristics of the national water network,integrating the current development status of inland shipping and relevant plans.The key issues in two-network integrated development are further discussed,including space synergy layout contradiction,conflict between water resource allocation and shipping demand,difficulty in balancing protection and development,and digital bottleneck of multi-network synergy.The corresponding solutions are initially proposed.The study holds that it is necessary to make systematic technical breakthroughs in four ways.First,the specialized planning should be studied for the integrated development of the national water network and the inland shipping network to lay a solid foundation for the overall layout.Second,the key technologies for water-shipping joint dispatching should be innovated to solve the resource allocation contradiction.Third,the technologies for complex habitat restoration and green shipping development should be broken through to achieve biology-development synergy.Fourth,a pilot project of the water-shipping digital twin should be established to overcome the digital barrier of multi-network synergy.The proposed solutions can lay a foundation and provide practical guidance for the theoretical system of high-quality integrated development of water conservancy and water transportation in the new era.