The full opening of the high-grade Xiang River waterway marks a major milestone in Hunan's socioeconomic development. The importance of the Xiang River and its high-grade waterway to Hunan's economy is comparable to that of the Yangtze River and its high-grade waterway to China's overall economic growth. Although Hunan, as an inland region, has nearly a thousand kilometers of the Xiang River, the waterway previously lacked long high-grade sections and was not fully navigable. By May of this year, the high-grade waterway from Yueyang to Yongzhou will be fully operational, ending the long-standing constraint on Hunan's economic development caused by the absence of a long, high-grade water transport route.
Stretching 723 kilometers across Hunan's 21,800 square kilometers of territory, this high-grade Xiang River waterway is an unprecedented and groundbreaking achievement in the province's history—a long-awaited development for its 70 million residents. The project, implemented by Hunan Water Transport Construction Investment Group starting in 2019, took seven years to complete. If counting from the start of the first phase of the Xiang River shipping project in 1989, the full opening of the high-grade waterway has been 37 years in the making.
In 2025, the cargo throughput of ports along the Yangtze River trunk line alone reached 4.2 billion tons, approximately 80% of the national railway freight volume of 5.277 billion tons. Unlike the Longhai Railway, the Yangtze waterway has facilitated the formation of the Yangtze Economic Belt, a national strategy demonstrating that trunk shipping not only offers logistical advantages and strong freight functions among various transport modes but also possesses unparalleled economic strategic value.
The full opening of the high-grade Xiang River waterway is the largest transportation project realized by Hunan Province in 2026 and one of the most significant transportation projects in the province's history. Adam Smith, the world-renowned economist who authored "The Wealth of Nations," noted 250 years ago, "Of all the improvements, the improvement in transportation is the most effective." Therefore, the impact of the full opening of the high-grade Xiang River waterway on Hunan's economy will be profound and far-reaching.
It will directly bring new opportunities for development to cities along the Xiang River, including the Chang-Zhu-Tan metropolitan area, Yueyang, Hengyang, and Yongzhou. Globally, wealth clusters around ports; among the world’s top 44 cities by GDP, nearly all are located near ports. Of the 35 global metropolises, 31 have developed around ports. Domestically, 95% of China's trade goods are shipped through ports. Nine of the country’s top 10 cities and 16 of the top 20 are waterfront cities.
The six cities along the Xiang River—including the central provincial capital area of Chang-Zhu-Tan and the sub-central provincial capitals of Yueyang and Hengyang—play a pivotal role in Hunan's economy. This is often referred to as the "678 phenomenon": the Xiang River basin accounts for over 65% of the province's population, more than 70% of its economic output, and over 80% of its industrial scale.
Freight volume on the Xiang River waterway is projected to exceed 90 million tons by 2035 and reach 120 million tons by 2050. After the completion of the Xiang-Gui Canal, the Xiang River waterway—which will connect the world's busiest Yangtze and Pearl River waterways—is fully expected to rank among the top five inland waterways globally, becoming a veritable "golden waterway."
The high-grade Xiang River waterway will foster a new type of water transport-oriented economic growth in the basin. First, prefecture-level cities such as Changsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, Hengyang, and Yongzhou will directly become national inland trunk waterway port cities, spurring the rise of dozens of new waterfront urban areas along the river. This will form a 723-kilometer vibrant corridor integrating "resident enjoyment, ecological livability, and water-city industry," creating a new pattern of "water as the vein, with both banks developing in synergy."
Second, it will deeply integrate "water-port-city-industry," giving rise to regional water transport-oriented economies and waterfront industrial clusters, promoting "industry flourishing by water, prosperity arising from water," and accelerating the construction of a prosperous, beautiful, and happy new Hunan.
Third, it will connect natural and cultural resources along the route, forming a "golden leisure corridor" for residents and a "golden tourism corridor" for the region. The Xiang River Golden Tourism Belt will join the Yangtze River Tourism Golden Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Tourism Golden Circle, and the Beibu Gulf Tourism Golden Circle to collectively build a southern "three-hour golden tourism circle" linked by waterways.
Lu Yi, Professor and Director of the Intelligent Transportation and Modern Logistics Institute at Changsha University of Science and Technology.