Harnessing Water to Thrive, Writing a New Chapter; Steering Forward with Determination, Leading the Tide—Written on the Occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the CCCC Water Transport Planning & Design Institute

The rivers surge forward without rest, ceaselessly day and night. 75 years may be just a fleeting moment in the long river of history, but for China's water transportation, it has been a period of monumental change.

In 1951, the first waterway investigation and planning design team of New China was established. From the first seaport, the first inland river port, the first shipyard of New China, to the first large-scale all-container port area, the first 400,000-ton ore wharf, and the most advanced river-to-sea canal project... each of these milestones that are etched into the history of China's water transportation carries the wisdom and dedicated efforts of the people at CCCC Water Transportation Consultants Co., Ltd. (referred to as CCCC Waterway Consultants).

For seventy-five years with unwavering commitment, CCCC Waterway Consultants have made water transport their core business. They have vertically integrated research, planning, consulting, design, surveying, general contracting, supervision, and project management across the whole industry chain. Horizontally, they have diversified into nine major business segments: high-end consulting, water transportation, engineering, overseas operations, smart technology, urban planning, marine engineering, water resources and ecology, and investment. They draw their blueprints over rivers, lakes, and seas, erecting milestones at home and abroad.

Bravely Undertaking the Mission with the Nation’s Great Purpose in Mind

On September 16 this year, ship whistles echoed across the Beibu Gulf. After four years of construction, the 134.2-kilometer-long historic project, the Pinglu Canal, was completed and opened to navigation. As the first grand canal in New China connecting inland waters to the sea, it is now inscribed in the annals of water transportation, showcasing China's engineering prowess and national resilience to the world.

This is a key project of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor and a century-old dream of the people in Guangxi. As early as 2019, CCCC Waterway Consultants were tasked with conducting preliminary studies. Over the next seven years, they led the design of the Madao Hub and the overall project design along the canal route. They infused wisdom and responsibility into each meter of the channel, each ship lock, and each green conservation effort, eventually earning the project recognition as an excellent ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practice case in China.

“By outlining vast changes to landscapes with scientific engineering management, advanced technical systems, rigorous design principles, solid scientific research support, and high-quality construction, we have established a monumental era with dedication and craftsmanship.” During the opening ceremony, CCCC Waterway Consultants’ Deputy Chief Engineer, Yuan Heping, represented the construction team to share the steadfast efforts and pride of the Pinglu Canal construction team.

The nation's needs are the mission of CCCC Waterway Consultants; the strategy's direction is where the blueprint takes form.

On June 8 this year, along the banks of the Yangtze River, construction began on the new Three Gorges Waterway—China's first major national landmark project initiated during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. CCCC Waterway Consultants are tasked with navigation assessment consulting and design review for the project. Upon completion, the annual dual-direction total throughput capacity of the Three Gorges Hub will increase to 336 million tons, while the Gezhouba Hub will reach 360 million tons, allowing 10,000-ton-class cargo ships to directly reach Chongqing.

This moment comes more than half a century after CCCC Waterway Consultants first participated in navigation assessment studies for the Three Gorges Project.

At the inception of New China, engineers from CCCC Waterway Consultants were among the first sent to study navigation infrastructure in the Soviet Union. From Gezhouba to the Three Gorges, and now to the new channel at the Three Gorges, generations of CCCC Waterway Consultants have worked with the belief of “achievements not necessarily in my lifetime, but my work will contribute to achievements,” tirelessly turning the grand visions of national strategies into the “high gorges forming a flat lake” human miracle.

Fast forward to June 30, 2024, over Lingdingyang, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan (Shenzhen-Zhuhai) Corridor extends across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. As a deep participant in this world-class trans-oceanic engineering cluster, CCCC Waterway Consultants tackled the design challenges of key nodes such as the artificial islands, contributing to the establishment of China's first underwater highway interchange, leaving a vivid mark on the transportation integration of the Greater Bay Area.

Looking back, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s earnest instructions during his inspections of Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Yangpu Port, Huanghua Port, and Rizhao Port have always been the driving force behind CCCC Waterway Consultants’ progress. Ningbo Zhoushan Port has ranked first globally for 17 consecutive years in cargo throughput; Yangpu Port stands as the gateway to external trade for the Hainan Free Trade Port; Huanghua Port fuels the north-to-south coal transport artery; and Rizhao Port exemplifies both smart and green features. Behind the development of all four ports are the indelible contributions of CCCC Waterway Consultants.

From port management and regional layout to urban development, CCCC Waterway Consultants have consistently advanced their services to align with national strategies. Within significant strategic regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, they established business-oriented subsidiaries, implementing "integrated regional operations and production." With the responsibility of a “City Partner,” they craft bespoke think tank solutions for national logistics hub cities like Yiwu, Ganzhou, Linyi, Ningbo, Qingdao, Lanzhou, Guiyang, Kashgar, Yueyang, and Yingtan, offering multimodal transportation and development consulting services. In February of this year, CCCC Waterway Consultants established the Integration Development and Promotion Center, deeply implementing CCCC Group’s “Four Integrations” and “Eight Network Integrations” concepts, transforming professional advantages into comprehensive advantages, transitioning from single services to systematic services, and finding their niche within national strategies.

At the same time, as an entity responsible for consulting and evaluation tasks for the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Transport, CCCC Waterway Consultants have cumulatively completed more than 150 advisory evaluations on behalf of ministries. For two consecutive years, they have been entrusted by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to conduct research on related development strategies and layouts. Among the 11 international hub seaports nationwide, they undertook the overall planning for Qingdao Port and Yangpu Port and participated in planning for Ningbo Zhoushan Port, among others. Making national strategic needs the starting and end point of their planning and design, CCCC Waterway Consultants continue to strategize and lay out high-quality development for China's water transportation industry through forward-looking top-level designs and think tank support.

Advancing Towards New Developments: Energizing High-Quality Growth

In September this year, the “Pan-Asia Terminal Project at Qingdao Port Qianwan Port Area,” designed by CCCC Waterway Consultants, won the 21st Tien-Yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize in China. Since its inception, CCCC Waterway Consultants have made innovation their core driving force. To date, they have won seven National Awards for Science and Technology Progress (including one special prize) and a total of 24 Luban Awards and Tien-Yow Jeme Prizes, laying a firm foundation for sustained development as a central enterprise.

Looking out to the sea, wisdom lights up one terminal after another. From early explorations in port informatization at Qingdao Qianwan Iron Ore Terminal in the 1990s, to the development of the first integrated cargo port control system at Shanghai Luojing in 2005, to the full-featured collaborative platform at the coal terminal of Huanghua Port, CCCC Waterway Consultants have progressively made ports “smarter” along a trajectory driven by data.

In March this year, the Ministry of Transport issued the “Smart Port Grading Evaluation Guide (Trial),” providing a unified national scoring standard for smart ports for the first time. In August of the same year, the “Smart Port Intelligent Technology Guide (First Edition)” was released, offering clear standards and guidelines for smart port construction. CCCC Waterway Consultants played a significant role in drafting these two documents.

Glancing towards rivers, the pulse of digital intelligence flows along the waterways. The “Three Conversions to Two” smart waterway in Jining section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal integrates intelligent supervision of waterways, ports, locks, and ships. The three locks of the Pinglu Canal have achieved remote centralized control, ensuring efficient intermodal sea and river freight. Smart locks with “unattended and minimally staffed” capabilities now operate sequentially in the Three Gorges Hub and Guangxi Honghua No. 2 Line. Emerging technologies like digital twinning and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing rivers and locks because of CCCC Waterway Consultants, enabling waterways and locks to “think.”

Now, CCCC Waterway Consultants’ technology services for the entire industry chain – “smart ports, smart shipping, smart governance” – cover all coastal provinces in mainland China, key inland provinces, and more than 30 countries. They are embedding “smart” into the very DNA of China's major rivers and the seas.

While advancing digital intelligence empowerment, CCCC Waterway Consultants continue to cultivate a green foundation. Through technological innovation, they address challenges in achieving green development in water transportation, accelerating the transition to green, low-carbon practices in the sector.

In 2022, CCCC Waterway Consultants established the Green Low-Carbon Development Research Center, led by a multidisciplinary team with over 90% holding master’s or doctoral degrees. They were the first to draft “Carbon Emission Calculation Standards During the Construction Period of Water Transport Engineering Projects” and “Carbon Emission Calculation Standards for Water Transport Projects,” with supporting software applied to over 500 engineering projects, enabling the industry to follow structured and evidence-based protocols for carbon reduction. They also initiated pre-research for ISO standards such as the “Green Design Guide for Port Engineering,” promoting China’s green practices abroad.

The fifth phase of Huanghua Port saw the addition of four new berths of 70,000-ton class, fully powered by electricity, with integrated wind-solar storage energy systems and 100% water resource recycling. This project was included in the second batch of advanced green and low-carbon technology demonstration projects by the National Development and Reform Commission. Similarly, the green low-carbon enhancement project at Rizhao Port and the zero-carbon initiative at the Yueyang Xujiaqiao Project gained recognition from the Ministry of Transport. CCCC Waterway Consultants are proving that the busiest ports can also be the greenest.

When practical exploration solidifies into applicable standards, it becomes a force driving the industry forward. As early as 1987, CCCC Waterway Consultants led the compilation of the first domestic design code for inland waterways, the “Specifications for Ship Lock Design (Trial),” and subsequently authored standards like the “General Design Specifications for Ship Locks” and “Inland Navigation Standards.” To date, they have spearheaded and participated in the development of over 140 national and industry standards, of which more than 80 are related to water transport engineering construction. These efforts filled numerous gaps in China's water transportation engineering standards and provided unified technical guidelines for projects, substantially advancing progress in the sector.

Emerging industries and future industries are significant growth poles for new productive capacities. Currently, CCCC Waterway Consultants' business layout for “all traffic, all water, all cities, all green, all digital” is accelerating, with revenues from strategic emerging industries expected to constitute 37.8% of total revenue by 2025. A “second growth curve” is emerging. Their marine ecological restoration business now covers over 70% of China's coastal provinces, commanding about 40% market share, with more than 100 projects already undertaken. Following this momentum, a New Energy Institute has been established, focusing on projects ranging from photovoltaic systems in port areas to wave energy generation, flourishing as experimental fields for energy integration. One by one, new tracks are unfolding, and burgeoning industries are taking shape as CCCC Waterway Consultants chart their course on the industrial map, advancing boldly on the tide of a new era.

Sailing Across Five Continents: Empowering the Belt and Road Initiative

In 2006, at Saudi Arabia’s Jazan Port, CCCC Waterway Consultants stood out among many international competitors and secured their first international cash project. Since its operation in February 2011, the port’s throughput has increased year by year, becoming Saudi Arabia’s third-largest industrial port within two years. This success cemented CCCC Waterway Consultants’ international design brand.

Over the next two decades, CCCC Waterway Consultants expanded their footprint from the Persian Gulf to East Africa, West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Today, they have established five overseas regional technical centers, operating in over 80 countries and regions. Acting as a bridge between China and the world through infrastructure, they continue to inject a steady stream of vitality into strengthening connectivity along the Belt and Road Initiative.

In 2024, Peru’s Chancay Port officially commenced operations in the presence of President Xi Jinping. The port’s launch shortens the trade route between China and South America by nearly ten days and opens a faster gateway to the Asia-Pacific market for Peru and neighboring countries. As the complete process consulting and design unit for the first phase of Chancay Port, CCCC Waterway Consultants faced challenges such as long-period waves and seismic activity. With innovative Chinese solutions, they proposed a combination of a “narrowed entrance basin layout + arm-shaped breakwater + fully vertical pile wharf,” increasing the container ship's operational days per year by over 20. By adopting China’s independently developed automated quay cranes, intelligent management systems, and smart automated guided vehicles, they created South America’s first fully automated container terminal.

On January 17 this year, the first shipment of nearly 200,000 tons of Simandou iron ore arrived at a Chinese port from Guinea's Marampa Port, marking a new milestone in cooperation between China and Guinea in resource development and infrastructure building. At Simandou in Guinea, CCCC Waterway Consultants demonstrated over a decade of technical expertise and project dedication, implementing the Marampa Port project group, including feasibility studies, site selection research, design and surveys, and mechanical and electrical engineering, to create an integrated “mine-port-shipping” logistics corridor with an annual transport capacity of 120 million tons. This reduced logistics costs by 35% and earned deep trust from global mining giants such as Rio Tinto and Chinalco.

From waterway engineering to high-end building construction, CCCC Waterway Consultants continue to expand their overseas operations. In Pakistan, they completed a 320,000-square-meter SAPT container yard under an EPC model, achieving three national firsts: the first automated yard, the first fully automated ballastless railway station yard, and the first island microgrid power station with energy storage. In Greece’s Piraeus port, they supported the upgrade of approximately 200,000 square meters of container yard through comprehensive services, further solidifying the relevance of this vital Belt and Road hub port. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, they employed a BIM-forward design approach to contribute deeply to the Middle East's high-end building market. These landmark projects make "Chinese solutions" the preferred choice for countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Small yet beautiful,” but containing a significant level of ambition. The aid port project in La Libertad Province, El Salvador, was among the first batch of urgent assistance projects following the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and El Salvador. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team pledged to “not return home until the project is completed,” remaining overseas for three years. After being handed over in 2023, the new port became a tourist landmark for surfing in El Salvador, creating job opportunities. The local residents affectionately said, “Since our Chinese friends arrived, our lives have been transformed.”

In marine governance, CCCC Waterway Consultants have brought Chinese wisdom to even farther corners of the globe. Marine spatial planning projects have been implemented in Fiji and Timor-Leste, providing “Chinese solutions” for island nations' development of marine economies and the protection of blue homelands, and bringing Chinese voices to the stage of the United Nations Ocean Conference. From Arctic shipping route research to global marine governance, CCCC Waterway Consultants’ overseas endeavors resonate with the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Behind the remarkable achievements lies CCCC Waterway Consultants’ long-term commitment to overseas markets and systematic support. In recent years, the company has successively launched priority implementation plans for overseas initiatives and in-depth reform implementation plans for “corporate internationalization.” By enhancing support in performance incentives, resource allocation, and talent deployment, they have propelled the synchronized global export of “Chinese standards, Chinese technologies, and Chinese solutions.”

For twenty years, CCCC Waterway Consultants have ridden the waves, drawing a picture of shared prosperity and collaboration on the remarkable blueprint of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Strengthening Roots and Forging the Spirit: Building an Upward and Positive Force

Deep roots lead to flourishing leaves, and strong spirit ensures long journeys. Following the Party’s leadership is an inherent part of the red gene of CCCC Waterway Consultants. For 75 years, generations of its people have channeled their loyalty to the Party into planning every project and designing every infrastructure, consistently aligning the company’s development trajectory with the Party’s innovative theories, transforming political and organizational advantages into innovation and development strengths for the enterprise.

Under the guidance of the company’s Party committee, CCCC Waterway Consultants have been rated as “Outstanding” in China Communications Construction Company's Party construction evaluation for five consecutive years. It has received the 2022–2023 “Outstanding Leadership Team” title, and its First Design Party General Branch was honored as an Advanced Grassroots Party Organization among central enterprises.

The deep integration of Party-building efforts with business has become the most profound foundation of CCCC Waterway Consultants’ identity. By delineating “responsibility zones,” forming “task forces,” establishing “model posts,” and rallying under the “vanguard flag,” Party organizations have been set up for major engineering projects wherever possible. The enhanced “1+2+N” grassroots Party-building branding system continues to deepen.

On critical engineering frontlines, Party members are the first to step forward and take responsibility in challenging positions. Party branches are established on project sites, with Party flags flying high above construction zones. The Pinglu Canal Project Team was recognized as the “Youth Civilization Unit” by central enterprises and the “2023 Brand Team” by China Communications Construction Company. Innovations like the “Unveiling the List and Taking Responsibility” mechanism have enabled young professionals to take the lead in major projects. The fusion of the red gene with blue dreams has coalesced into a potent centripetal force driving high-quality development.

Integrity and incorruptibility are the political essence of communists and the fundamental bottom line that leaders at all levels must uphold in their endeavors. CCCC Waterway Consultants’ Party Committee has consistently advanced the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, fostering a clean political ecosystem conducive to responsible innovation and entrepreneurship. In September 2026, a special training program for building the “Four Abilities” among Party-member leaders and grassroots Party organization secretaries was launched in Hangzhou, guiding Party members to strengthen their ideologies and improve their practical capabilities.

While serving national strategies and driving industry progress, CCCC Waterway Consultants have deeply embedded social responsibility into their corporate development, actively contributing to rural revitalization, public welfare, and aid programs. Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, one of the most challenging areas in China's poverty alleviation efforts, has been the focus of CCCC Waterway Consultants since 2018. With “education support” as the top priority, they have achieved the highest grade of “Excellent” in CCCC Group’s targeted assistance assessment for five consecutive years since 2021. Their annual educational investment has grown steadily from 200,000 yuan in 2021 to 1 million yuan by 2025, showcasing the commitment of central enterprises to rural revitalization. Along the Nujiang River, waves of young people from mountainous regions are now climbing the ladders towards broader horizons, thanks to the opportunities provided by CCCC Waterway Consultants.

Culture persists and the melody continues. CCCC Waterway Consultants have meticulously compiled a 75-year history of the institute to pass on the enterprise's spirit to a broader audience. They have established a corporate culture demonstration base and institutionalized training on current affairs, policies, and the education of ideals and beliefs at all levels, ensuring the continuity of their spiritual heritage. By deeply integrating cultural and ideological construction with production and operations, CCCC Waterway Consultants have won widespread recognition for their developmental achievements. They have been featured in reports by mainstream media outlets such as “People’s Daily,” Xinhua News Agency, and China Central Television, and were named a Civilized Unit of China Communications Construction Company for 2025. The company continues to bolster its brand value and social recognition.

Sailing forward with strength and conviction, CCCC Waterway Consultants stand at the historic crossroads of their 75th anniversary and the beginning of the “15th Five-Year Plan.” With steadfast resolve and a firm sense of mission, they are committed to fully implementing the “666” strategic framework and the “545” construction objectives. Anchoring their efforts towards the goal of becoming a "three-special and five-type" development model, and adhering to technological leadership, digital intelligence empowerment, green transformation, and international expansion, they aim to accelerate the creation of a world-class engineering consultancy and continue to polish the prestigious label of being a “national institute.” They are devoted to making greater contributions to the construction of Chinese modernization.