the story of China's success is a tale of water from the Hans culture flourishing along the banks of the Huang hee River to Modern oceanicargo that moves manufactured products to Global markets waterways have been essential in creating a Network that has allowed the flourishing economy of China's Coastal and inner regions for centuries this network has been at the core of China's political economic and even military Cloud for decades however this same water has also become the source of China's own weakness The increased usage and pollution of freshwater reserves has led to shortages that threaten the population of security but perhaps geography holds the key to an unexpected Solution by leveraging the vast network of inland waterways that have been integral to China's success the country may be able to find a way to both protect its population and maintain its Global influence to understand the causes of these problems we must look to the country's history and geography the Han culture flourished along the banks of the Huang hee river which provided some of the most fertile lands in the world from there it expanded South to the young sea and pearl river basins in the 5th Century A. D the sweet Dynasty constructed the jing-hang Grand Canal the world's longest and one of the oldest artificial waterways this connection allowed the unification of two distinct regions and cultures the center of power in the North and the commercial and agricultural South the construction of this critical infrastructure also addressed Northern China's historical freshwater problem s and Emperors frequently moved north to south while fresh water and rice moved south to North ensuring the sustainment of a larger population around the capital Beijing and providing a safeguard against recurrent floods and droughts for centuries this system has ensured sustainable demographic and economic growth however modern China now faces a much more critical freshwater shortage but why is that one big reason is the human factor Global water consumption has increased eight-fold to the last 100 years largely due to population growth dietary needs and economic development yet China's per capita availability water is only one-fourth the world average in the past 60 years China's population has more than doubled with Beijing alone growing from 14 million to over 21 million in less than 20 years this growth has not been evenly distributed geographically if we look at China's population distribution we can see that the majority of people live in the East along the coastline and in some Inland Pockets such as those around the Sichuan basin the so-called heiha tongchang line perfectly illustrates this south of the line lives 94 percent of China's population yet only being 43 percent of the total territory in total around 80 percent of Chinese people live in only 10 percent of China what makes China's water problem even worse is that higher population densities are concentrated in the north of the country which is also the driest despite supporting 50 percent of China's population the north only has 20 percent of total freshwater Reserves this is further exacerbated by international trade as the north exports around five percent of its water through Commodities that require water for their production the consequences of this are dire China's national Bureau statistics estimates that in 2021 only 40 percent of Chinese had access to tap water and another study published in nature estimates that somewhere between 25 percent and 60 percent live under severe water scarcity water scarcity in the north of China is mainly caused by human factors such as overpopulation but geography and climate also have a significant influence the diverse geography and climates of the country ranging from deserts to rain forests and from 7 000 plus meter mountains to remote Tropical Islands created a wide range of temperatures and rainfall levels the turim Basin in the Northwest has a desert-like climate and almost no rainfall while further south the climate is tropical and temperate Winters are often accompanied by an average precipitation of up to 80 inches on average northeastern China received around half of the rainfall of the South in addition to receiving less rain the north also has a second issue High variability of precipitation this means some years have abundant rainfall While others are much drier in the South this variability is around 40 percent whereas in the vast regions of the north it reaches 70 percent and east of Beijing it even spikes up to 80 percent furthermore 70 to 80 percent of rain falls between May and September with spring being the driest but also the most demanding season for agriculture this has historically been linked to China's recurrent floods and drought problems if it weren't for the Chinese waterways this could have been a catastrophic situation in case of the destruction of crops due to floods or droughts internal waterways have provided for centuries a way of transporting large quantities of food and water still to this day waterways are the main access into China and its financial markets however economic downturns inflations and geopolitical turmoils have created volatility in traditional markets prompting many investors to look for more Innovative assets while lower correlation to the stock market such as real estate gold and even fine art until recently investing in the Art Market required millions of dollars but thanks to Masterworks everyone can now invest in museum grade contemporary art for a fraction of the cost the process is simple Masterworks scrutinizes paintings with the SEC makes them available as public offerings and sells them at the best retail price on the Art Market from bansky to Monet you can now add art to your portfolio just like the ultra wealthy and nearly 600 000 people have already signed up there is usually a waiting list to access Masterwork services but by going to masterworks. art kamome you'll get full Priority Access don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to invest in art like the wealthy and now back to the video for the past four decades Chinese administrations have worked to mitigate the impact of rainfall variability and changing climate by investing in freshwater Reserve infrastructures two of the most renowned projects are the Three Gorges Dam and the south north water transfer project these projects help to collect and store more water reducing the effects of rainfall seasonality and providing a way to share some water with China's North the three gorgeous Dam which was the largest dam in the world when it was completed in 2006 plays a major role in reducing the effects of rainfall variability it creates a large water Reserve Upstream of the Yangtze which can be used during droughts or withheld to prevent floods Downstream while also lengthening the navigability of the river and generating hydroelectric energy the south north water transfer project first conceived by Mao began Construction in 2002 and is expected to be completed by 2050.
this Aqueduct network will provide an annual 40 000 billion cubic meters of water supplying hundreds of millions in the north with fresh water from the south in addition to these massive projects smaller scale initiatives are being implemented particularly in the sanitation of polluted water this has been a focus of XI jinping's Administration which has invested increasingly in the sanitation of polluted Water Resources from 169 million in 2012 to 3. 64 billion in 2021 China's statistics are often referred to as opaque and should be taken with a grain of salt but if you want to learn more about the history of censorship in China you should check out this excellent video by knowledge Riders the second problem pollution since the 1980s China's rivers have become increasingly contaminated at an alarming rate chemical oxygen demand a widely used pollution indicator that measures the oxygen needed to decompose organic matter in the water almost doubled from 2011 to 2021. from 12 to 24 million tons indicating that more waste was being discharged into the environment additionally Agricultural and domestic nitrogen pollution discharges are 2.
7 times higher than the estimated safe threshold not only nitrogen but also phosphate which is used in China's vast rice crops and which is also one of the most phosphate demanding agriculture water pollution is also caused by indirect pollutants released into the air China's industrial and energy generation sectors heavily rely on burning coal to generate energy and heat which not only contributes to 90 percent of China's total greenhouse gas emissions but also to the emission of particulate matter that deposits on crop fields and water reserves in 2020 this was estimated at 6 million tons creating pollution levels unseen in other parts of the world the consequences of this are devastating impacting the quality of life of the Chinese people and the environment a recent study found out that around 21 of diseases in China are related to pollution eight percent more than in the U. S this has caused the premature loss of human lives and immense economic problems with an estimated 1. 1 million premature deaths and an annual loss of 38 billion dollars to the country's economy China has over the years tried to address this issue with various and debatable results however one of the most promising Solutions has been the investing in more efficient Transportation methods like trains for passengers and inland waterways for Freight China is by far the leading emitter of global carbon dioxide with the majority of emissions coming from its coal dependent energy production and Industrial sectors accounting for a staggering 90 of the total in comparison Transportation accounts for only eight percent of China's emissions a stark contrast to the more advanced countries such as the United States and Europe where Transportation emissions are around 29 and 26 percent respectively a higher Transportation emissions in more advanced countries are largely attributed to Road Transport with private cars alone counting for more than 77 percent of all EU Transportation related greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 so why does China with its large economy only emit a fraction of U.
S and EU Transportation emissions well a major factor is the clever use of its geography and in particular its extensive network of navigable waterways China boasts the largest navigable Waterway Network on Earth with twice the length of Brazil the second largest this network known as the 21218 network comprises of two horizontal routes the yangti and the Pearl Rivers one vertical route the Grand Canal two networks the yongsi and pearl river basins and 18 high-grade waterways these waterways are so essential to the Chinese economy that in 2014 more than seven percent of total Freight was moved by internal waterways alone by comparison the EU and U. S usage of inland waterways compared to other forms of Transport such as rail or road is 5. 8 percent and four percent respectively just as the Mississippi connects the Agricultural and Logistics Hub Upstream such as St Louis Cincinnati and the tri-state area with major Oceanic deep water ports on the Gulf of Mexico like south Louisiana New Orleans and Baton Rouge China's Waterway system plays an even more significant role in connecting the manufacturing Inland hubs with the coast the port of Suzhou China's New Orleans has a freight throughput capacity higher than the combined total of the US's top two ports Houston Texas and south Louisiana Chongqing which is located more than 1 000 miles Upstream of the Yangtze has almost the same capacity as south Louisiana but if we were to compare chongqing's location deep into China's Inland it would play a similar role to that of St Louis but with a cargo volume 10 times greater the vast network of internal waterways acts as the veins and arteries the connect and nourish China's industrial Hearts deep inside its inland this provides a cost efficient and less pollutant way of transportation despite the mountains and rough Terrain modern Inland Waterway transportation is one of the most cost effective and environmentally friendly ways to move Freight a modern 3 000 metric ton vessel can transport the equivalent of around 140 ton truck Journeys in one go while producing a fraction of the CO2 emissions and fuel given China's expansive geography water transportation offers a unique combination of the adaptability of roads and the efficiency of rail locks and lifts such as those on the three gorgeous Dam enable vessels to Traverse elevation changes while maintaining cost efficiencies on the yongti which accounts for the 51 percent of total waterways larger ocean-going cargos can reach as far as Nanjing while vessels of 1 000 tons or more can navigate from Shanghai at sea level all the way to lejo 262 meters above sea level at the foot of the Tibetan plateau the cost-efficient transportation and development of internal waterways have enabled the growth of manufacturing and Industrial hubs Upstream like Chongqing now the economy built around the NC Pearl and yellow river basins alone count for over 60 percent of China's total GDP the development of inland waterways related to The Go West policy can serve as a model for other countries with similar geographical conditions for example Vietnam is the fourth largest user of internal waterways per annual tunge moved behind the U.
