The Grand Canal, the only major Chinese waterway running from north to south, passes through the basins of the Hai, Huang, Huai, Yangtze, and Qiantang rivers in its 1,100-mile (1,800-km) course from Beijing to Hangzhou. One of the greatest engineering projects in China, equal in fame to the Great Wall, it is the world’s longest artificial waterway; some of its sections follow the natural course of a river, while other parts are hand-dug. Work on the canal began as early as the 4th century bc and was completed by the end of the 13th century ad. It forms a north-south communications and transport link between the most densely populated areas in China. From the latter part of the 19th century, however, because of political corruption, mismanagement, and flooding from the Huang He, the canal gradually became silted up, and the higher section in Shandong became blocked. Since 1958, efforts have been made to reopen the Grand Canal to navigation, this time also by larger modern craft. The canal is important in the north-south transport of bulk cargoes, thus facilitating the nationwide distribution of coal and foodstuffs.
Port facilities and shipping
China’s 8,700-mile- (14,000-km-) long coastline is indented by some 100 large and small bays and has some 20 deepwater harbours, most of which are ice-free throughout the year. Coastal shipping is divided into two principal navigation zones, the northern and southern marine districts. The northern district extends north from Amoy to the North Korean border, with Shanghai as its administrative centre. The southern district extends south from Amoy to the Vietnamese border, with Guangzhou as the administrative centre. Most of the oceangoing routes begin from the ports of Dalian, Qinghuangdao, Tanggu, Qingdao (Tsingtao), Shanghai, Huangpu, Zhanjiang, or Hong Kong. Shanghai, the leading port of China from the early 19th century, was eclipsed by Hong Kong when the latter was reincorporated into the country in 1997.
Chinese-built passenger steamer in the harbour at Dalian, Liaoning province, China.Sally Reston/Photo Researchers
In 1961 China established a state-run marine shipping company and subsequently signed shipping agreements with many countries, laying the foundation for developing the country’s ocean transport. That organization developed into the present-day China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO), one of the world’s largest shipping corporations. The Chinese government also invested heavily in water transport infrastructure, constructing new ports and rebuilding and enlarging older facilities. A major effort has also been made to increase mechanization and containerization at major international ports. In addition, China has become one of the world’s premier shipbuilding countries, satisfying domestic demand and exporting ships and oil-drilling platforms worldwide.
shippingTerminal with stacks of containers waiting for shipping or delivery, Hong Kong.© LeeYiuTung/iStock.com
Aviation
Air travel is particularly suited to China, with its vast territory and varied terrain. Chinese civil aviation has two major categories: air transport, which mainly handles passengers, cargoes, and mail, traveling on both scheduled and nonscheduled routes; and special-purpose aviation, which mainly serves industrial and agricultural production, national defense, and scientific and technological research. The aims of civil aviation in China have been primarily to extend air routes; to strengthen the link between Beijing and other important cities, as well as remote border and interior areas; to develop special-purpose flights serving the needs of agriculture, forestry, and geologic prospecting; and to increase the number of large transport airplanes.
In the 1950s international aviation depended mainly on Soviet support, and all principal international air routes originally passed through Moscow using Soviet planes. As Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated in the late 1950s, China began to open direct air routes to other places as well. Thus, in addition to the original routes between China and the Soviet Union, North Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Burma (now Myanmar), air routes were opened to several of China’s neighbouring countries, the United States, western Asia, Europe, and Africa. After 1980 the number of air routes grew markedly; the addition of Hong Kong’s international air traffic in 1997 constituted another significant increase.
Chinese civil air efforts were carried out solely by the state-run General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) from 1949 until the mid-1980s. In an effort to improve efficiency and service, regional airlines were then introduced in competition with the airlines operated by the CAAC. In the early 21st century the CAAC’s airline-operating responsibilities were being shifted to semiprivate companies.
Airport construction has increased greatly since Beijing’s first modern civilian airport was built in 1958; that facility was replaced in 1980 by Capital Airport. Major projects since 1990 include new facilities at Macau (1995), Hong Kong (1998), Shanghai (2000), and Guangzhou (2004) . The Chinese Air Force controls a large number of airfields; retired Air Force personnel have been the major source of civilian pilots. Airplanes, including various types of military aircraft, have long been made by China. Civil airliners for long-distance flights, however, are still mostly purchased abroad.
Posts and telecommunications
Posts and telecommunications were established rapidly in the 1950s and ’60s. By 1952 the principal posts and telecommunications network centred on Beijing, and links to all large cities had been established. Great progress was made in improving the postal service under the First Five-Year Plan. Postal service was also developed in the rural areas. Besides extending rural postal routes, the problem of delivering mail to places below the county level was solved by enlisting the aid of the population. From 1954 onward a system of mail delivery by rural postal workers was tried in agricultural cooperatives, and in 1956 this system was extended throughout the country. By 1959 the national postal network was complete. Express postal service was introduced in 1980.
When the People’s Republic was established in 1949, China had only a rudimentary telecommunications system, limited largely to the eastern coastal cities, the Nanjing region, and a few interior cities. Work quickly got under way to repair and expand the system, and from 1956 telecommunications routes were extended more rapidly. The same lines were used for both telegraphic and telephone service to increase the efficiency of the communication system, and Teletype and television broadcast services were also added. By 1963 telephone wire linked Beijing to the large cities and the capitals of all provinces and autonomous regions, and capitals in turn were connected to the administrative seats of the counties, smaller municipalities, and larger market towns.
By the 1970s, radio telecommunications equipment was beginning to replace wire lines, and microwave and satellite transmissions were soon introduced; China launched its first television-broadcast satellite in 1986. The pace of telecommunications growth and technology upgrading increased even more rapidly after 1990, especially as fibre-optics systems and digital technology were installed. China’s telecommunications services were further enhanced from 1997, when Hong Kong’s highly advanced systems were acquired. In the late 1990s, foreign companies were allowed to invest in the country’s telecommunications sector, further encouraging growth. Notable has been the tremendous increase in cellular phone use; China became the world leader in the early 21st century, in terms of number of subscribers.