Eyes on Chongqing 看重庆
观莱茵河沿岸发展史
看长江经济带的崛起之路
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文/见习记者 吴俊琰
今年4月,中共中央政治局常委、国务院总理李克强乘船溯江而上,考察长江黄金水道,并在重庆组织召开了关于依托黄金水道建设长江经济带的座谈会。时隔一个半月,李克强总理在国务院常务会议上,再次阐释了“为什么要发展长江经济带”。
中国政府网一篇题为《李克强:建立“物畅其流”的市场大通道》的文章指出:“李克强列举了莱茵河、多瑙河沿岸的发展历史。他说,无论是发达国家还是发展中国家,最发达的地区都是沿海地区。从国际经验看,现代工业化的历史,都是由沿海地区先发展起来,然后沿内河而上开发,这是
‘普遍的经济规律’。此外,海运、河运价格相对低廉、节能环保,这也符合‘价格规律’。”
李克强提出的由沿海地区溯内河而上开发的“国际经验”,对于我们深入了解为什么要发展长江经济带以及如何发展长江经济带有着重大借鉴意义。
莱茵河经济带的开发
莱茵河是欧洲第三大河流。莱茵河发源于瑞士,经列支敦士登、奥地利、德国和法国等西欧发达国家,在荷兰汇入北海。莱茵河是东西欧经济的
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两大动脉之一(另一个是多瑙河),由于其优秀的通航能力,被誉为欧洲的“黄金水道”。
就莱茵河而言,在整个人类文明发展史上,特别是近现代,它对于人类文明的演进有着举足轻重的意义。莱茵河流经世界上最早工业化的城市和地区,内河航运非常发达,运输效率是长江的5倍。莱茵河通过运河与荷兰的鹿特丹港相连,它是荷兰第二大城市,也是亚欧大陆桥的西桥头(东桥头是中国的连云港)、欧洲第一大海港,也曾经是世界第一大海港(近年来由于中国经济的飞速发展,上海逐渐超越鹿特丹港)。而莱茵河岸的德国杜伊斯堡则是世界上最大的内河港口。
自第二次工业革命以来,莱茵河的航运价值被沿岸各国充分利用开发,形成了6个重要的工业区,他们依次是:巴塞尔—米卢斯—弗莱堡、斯特拉斯堡、莱茵—内卡、莱茵—美茵、科隆—鲁尔以及鹿特丹—欧洲港区。值得一提的是,莱茵河沿岸城市的发展并不同步,基本遵循“沿海—内河”的发展规律。
由于政治历史原因,鹿特丹港在16世纪才开始朝着贸易城市发展,凭借优越的自然地理环境和地理大发现以及工业革命的历史机遇,到19世纪,鹿特丹港已经成为欧洲举足轻重的商业海港。1870年,德国统一后,大力发展鲁尔工业区,作为鲁尔区的下游出海口,鹿特丹的内河航运价值也初步显现。此后几十年间,鹿特丹的海运和内河航运价值稳步提升。
但是,二战期间,鹿特丹遭到德国法西斯的狂轰滥炸,昔日荣光不复存在。战后,市政当局立马积极重建港口设施,并在1949年恢复港口的通航能力,使鹿特丹自1965年一跃成为世界第一大港,地位延续至今。莱茵河流域经过数百年的发展,形成了依托世界大港鹿特丹、以六大工业区为广阔腹地、干流支流齐头并进的发展格局。
鹿特丹能够成为世界举足轻重的海港固然与其天然海港的优势密不可分,但有内河沿岸工业城市作为它的经济腹地也是一个相当重要的原因。鹿特丹的经济地位也是伴随着内陆工业城市的发展而稳步提升的。
事实上,由于莱茵河是国际河流,统一治理莱茵河并不仅仅是德国的事。而列国对于莱茵河的开发利用远在德国统一之前。1816年,根据维也纳会议结果,“莱茵河航运中央委员会”在德法边境的斯特拉斯堡成立,开始了莱茵河沿岸列国统一开发莱茵河之路。1963年修改协定后至今,“莱茵河航运中央委员会”共有五个成员国:荷兰、比利时、德国、法国和瑞士。在国际公约和中央委员会的制约、管理之下,莱茵河上可以看到飘扬着各国国旗的客货轮熙来攘往,畅行无阻。这便是统一治理的好处,国与国之间的关税壁垒不复存在,边贸互市也非常发达。最值得借鉴的是,开发利用中的地方保护主义被打破,很好地避免增强了各国经济联系,提高了运输效率。了很多不必要的麻烦,
当然,处理问题既要统筹兼顾,又要做到具体问题具体分析。一方面,德国在中央委员会的协调下大力发展莱茵河航运,通航里程达到719公里。另一方面,德国大力建设莱茵河内河航运网,通过疏浚河道、沟通运河,形成点线面结合的全面、综合的水运系统,为工业建设提供了极大便利。在此基础上,因地制宜,形成了鲁尔区、波恩—科隆等沿岸城市带。各大城市带、工业区通过发达的内河航运联结为一体,形成德国经济的强大推动力。
为了充分开发利用莱茵河的航运价值,德国政府可谓煞费苦心。实现江海联运,内河航运网自不必说,此外,德国政府还努力沟通莱茵河与多瑙河,开发新的腹地——在这一点上,莱茵河的天然条件不如长江;但同样地,长江开发并没有充分利用这一巨大的优势。再者,为了提高莱茵河通航能力,德国政府尝试了多种方法改善航道状况。1817年的“图拉整治”将河道裁弯取直,使得鲁尔区的货轮可以到达瑞士的港口。二战之前,德国又花费40余年,实现内河天然河流渠化。但二战期间,内河网遭到破坏。战后,德国政府重新建设内河网,提高干支流渠化水平,统一并提高全国航道标准,内河航道超过6000公里,而达到欧共体IV标准的干流航道有480公里。目前,德国所有航道装备有雷达导航系统,大大提升了轮船的夜航和雾航能力。
大力发展水陆联运也是莱茵河开发的重要工程,比如加强鲁尔区和汉堡港的水陆联系。1990年东西德重归统一后,联邦政府大力建设东部的基础设施,现已形成发达的公路、铁路、内河航运网络,大大地加快了东部德国的现代化、工业化进程,缩小了东西部的差距。
德国对莱茵河的开发经验
说到内河开发,就不得不提到德国了。
莱茵河全长1232公里,流经德国境内约867公里(包括边境线),流域面积覆盖德国领土面积40%以上,是当之无愧的德国经济命脉。德国工业如此发达、经济发展水平位居世界前茅与他们对莱茵河的开发利用密不可分。
德国对莱茵河的开发整治总结起来主要有如下几个特点:统一治理、因段制宜、航运为先、多方兼顾。
莱茵河污染与整治
莱茵河流经各国在追求城市化、工业化的同时也忽略了对流域内自然环境的保护,使莱茵河一度成为“欧洲臭水沟”,多
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瑙河成为“黑海环境杀手”。
20世纪是工业化发展的热潮,莱茵河流域兴建起密集的工业区,如上文提到的鲁尔区就是以煤炭和钢铁工业为主,其他的还有化工等重污染的工业。仅在德国段就有约300家工厂把大量的酸、漂液、染料、铜、镉、汞、去污剂、杀虫剂等上千种污染物倒入河中。因为货运发展需要和疏浚河道带来的便利,莱茵河上航运也迅速增加,油污废水不断注入河中。从1900年到1977年间,莱茵河里铬、铜、镍、锌等金属严重富集,据估计,河水中的各种有害物质达1000种以上。自上世纪50年代起,鱼类几乎在莱茵河上、中游绝迹,下游的荷兰的饮用水和鲜花产业也因来自德国和法国的工业污染而损失严重。
为此,法国、德国、卢森堡、荷兰和瑞士于1950年在瑞士巴塞尔建立了“保护莱茵河国际委员会”(ICPR),负责莱茵河水质监测、监控污染源和恢复生态等工作。几十年间,这个专门的组织为莱茵河的治理、保护提供了很多卓有成效的方案,比如提出“国际警报方案”以及由于1986年巴塞尔化工厂失火案促成的《莱茵河行动纲领》和后来的《莱茵河可持续发展2020规划》
。
通过流域范围内9个国家的联合协调治理、防护,莱茵河污染问题得到了较好的解决。据调查,1985年到2000年间,莱茵河中的有毒物质减少了90%。目前,莱茵河中生活着63种鱼,生态系统稳步恢复。
绿色开发——走可持续发展道路
“以人为鉴,可以明得失;以史为鉴,可以知兴替。”莱茵河开发的经验告诉我们一定要“开发、保护两头抓”。为此,李克强在布局长江经济带时特别强调“要处理好发展和保护的关系”,避免产业转移带来污染转移。
同时,长江作为我国的“黄金水道”,开发长江的航运、能源价值的重要性是不言而喻的。目前,长江经济带以中国工业、经济最为发达地区之一——长江三角洲为龙头,依托黄金水道,其自然条件非常优越。并且,由于长江经济带具有广阔的经济腹地和潜在的国际贸易资源,一旦发展起来,必能像莱茵河、多瑙河流域那样,成为中国经济发展的“明日之星”。
莱茵河中的货轮
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Development History of Areas along Rhine
Rise of Yangtze River Economic Belt
In April this year, Li Keqiang, Member of the standing committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, inspected the golden watercourse of Yangtze River by boat and held a meeting concerning the development of Yangtze River Economic Belt relying on the golden watercourse. After one and a half months, in an executive meeting of the State Council, Premier Li explained again “why Yangtze River Economic Belt should be developed.”
According to an article on the website of the Central People’s Government of People’s Republic of China, Li Keqiang: Establishing A Great Market Channel for Facilitating Goods Flow, “Li Keqiang listed the development history of Rhine and Danube riverside areas. No matter it is in a developed country or a developing country, the most developed area is the coastal areas. Judging from international practices and modern industrial history, the ‘common law of economy’ is that the coastal area is the first to develop and then its development will facilitate the development of areas along the inland rivers. Besides, ocean and river transportation is cheaper, energy-saving and environmentally friendly, which accords with the ‘law of price’.”
The “international practices” of development from coastal areas to inland river areas brought up by Li Keqiang provides us with a very important reference about why and how Yangtze River Economic Belt should be developed.
Watercourse” of Europe.
In the history of human civilization, especially in modern era, Rhine plays an important role in the evolution of civilization. Rhine runs through the world’s earliest industrial cities and regions. It boasts highly advanced inland shipping and its shipping efficiency is five times of Yangtze River. Rotterdam, the estuary of Rhine, is the second largest city in Netherlands, also the West End of Eurasian Continental Bridge (the East End is China’s Lianyungang), the largest European harbor and the former world’s largest harbor (With a fast development of China’s economy, Shanghai took Rotterdam’s place). Duisburg of Germany is the world’s largest inland port.
Since the Second Industrial Revolution, the shipping value of Rhine has been fully explored by countries along the river. Six key industrial regions then came into existence: Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, Strasbourg, Rhine-Neka, Rhine-Main, Cologne-Ruhr and Rotterdam-Europe ports. It is worth mentioning that the riverside cities did not develop simultaneously but followed the law of “coast-inland rivers”.
Due to political and historical reasons, the Rotterdam port started to develop itself into a trading city only in the 16th century. Relying on its geographic advantages, great geographic discoveries and opportunities brought by the Industrial Revolution, Rotterdam became an important trading harbor of Europe in the 19th Century. In 1870 upon the unification of Germany, the Ruhr industrial region was much developed. As the downstream estuary, the river transportation value of Rotterdam stated to unfold. For decades ever since, the ocean and river shipping value of Rotterdam increased steadily.
During the Second World War, however, Rotterdam was bombarded by German fascists and lost its prosperity. After the war, the municipal authority rebuilt the port facilities and restored its navigation capacity in 1949. Rotterdam became the worlds’ largest port in 1965 and kept that title ever since.
The Development of Rhine Economic Belt
As third largest river in Europe, Rhine originates in Switzerland, runs through Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and other developed Western European countries, and flows into the North Sea in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rhine is one of the two arteries of Eastern and Western European economy (the other one is Danube). With its excellent navigation capacity, Rhine is known as the “Golden
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In general, after centuries of development, the Rhine reaches formed the layout of Rotterdam port, six industrial regions in the vast hinterland and main rivers and tributaries.
Rotterdam’s position as an indispensable port in the world depends much on its natural advantage, yet the economic hinterland of riverside industrial cities is another key reason. In conclusion, the economic position of Rotterdam rises along with the development of the inland cities.
When addressing problems, one shall make overall plans while analyzing specifi c problems. On the one hand, Germany strove to develop Rhine shipping under the coordination of the Central Committee, expanding its navigation range to 719 kilometers. On the other hand, Germany constructed the inland river shipping network to form a comprehensive water shipping system, which greatly facilitated the industrial construction. On this basis, considering the local conditions, Germany set up Ruhr region, Bonn-Cologne and other riverside city belts. And these city belts and industrial regions are stringed by inland river transportation to drive Germany’s economic development.
The German government has spared no pains to make full use of Rhine’s shipping value. In addition to connecting river and ocean transportation and shaping river network, Germany also strove to connect Rhine and Danube to explore new hinterland. In this regard, the natural condition of Yangtze is better than that of Rhine but it has not been fully leveraged. German government took many measures to improve the shipping lanes in order to increase the navigation capacity of Rhine. In “Tula Regulation” of 1817, the tortuous channels were made straight to allow freighters to pass without obstacle from Ruhr region to ports in Switzerland. Before the Second World War, German government spent over four decades to rebuild the inland river network and realize the inland river canalization. During the War, however, the network was destroyed. After the War, the German government reconstructed the network to raise the canalization level of main rivers and tributaries, harmonized and raised the national standard of the shipping lanes. The inland shipping lane is over 6000 kilometers long, of which 480-km main river shipping lane conforms to the IV standards of European Community. Now all shipping lanes in Germany are equipped with radar navigation system, which greatly boosts navigation capacity at night and in fog.
Coordinated land-and-water transport is another important project in Rhine development, for instance, strengthening the connection between Ruhr region and Hamburg port. In 1990 when Eastern and Western Germany were unified, the Federal Government developed the infrastructure in the East. A network of roads, railways and river transport has taken shape, which strongly speeds up the modernization and industrialization of Eastern Germany and shortens the gap between the West and the East.
Germany’s Development Experiences of Rhine
Speaking of inland river development, Germany comes to the fore.
Spanning a total length of 1232 kilometers long, the Rhine runs through 867 kilometers in Germany (including the borderline) with reaches covering over 40% of Germany’s territory, thus well deserves the title of Germany’s economic artery. Germany’s development and exploration of Rhine contributes a lot to its powerful industry and its world’s leading economy.
The development and rectification of Rhine can be summarized into the following points: unifi ed administration, adjusting measures to different river sections and prioritizing shipping while considering multiple aspects.
In fact, Rhine is an international river whose unified administration is not just the responsibility of Germany, prior to which other countries had already begun to tap into it. According to the resolutions of Congress of Vienna in 1816, the Central Committee of Rhine Transportation was set up in Strasbourg, a city at the border of Germany and France. Hence the unified administration of Rhine by riverside countries commenced. Since the agreement amendment in 1963 till now, the Central Committee of Rhine Transportation consists of five members: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Franc e and Switzer land. Under the regulation and management of the international conventions and the Central Committee, passenger and cargo liners of various country fl ags come and go on Rhine unimpededly. This is the benefi t brought by unified administration. The tariff barrier among countries collapsed, and the border trade flourished. It is laudable that local protectionism was smashed, thus avoiding unnecessary troubles, enhancing economic ties between countries and raising transportation effi ciency.
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Netherlands and Switzerland established the “International
The Pollution and Rectifi cation of Rhine
While pursuing urbanization and industrialization, riverside countries of Rhine ignored the protection of the environment. Rhine once became the “European Ditch” and Danube “Environmental Killer of Black Sea”.
During the industrialization boom of the 20th Century, many industrial regions were set up along Rhine, including Ruhr region focusing on coal and steel industry and others with heavy-polluting industries such as chemical industry. In Germany section of Rhine only, about 300 plants discharged thousands of pollutants like acid, bleach liquor, pigment, copper, cadmium, mercury, detergent, pesticides into the river. Because of freight development need and convenience by watercourse dredging, the shipping volume of Rhine rapidly increased with more greasy dirt and wastewater injected in the river. From 1900 to 1977, there was a grave enrichment of chromium, copper, nickel and zinc in the river. It was estimated that the pollutants in the river exceeded 1000 categories. Since 1950s, fi sh was almost extinct in the upper and middle reaches of Rhine. The drinking water and fl oral industry of the downstream Netherlands also suffered great losses from industrial pollution in Germany and France.
To this end, in 1950, France, Germany, Luxembourg,
Committee for Protecting Rhine” (ICPR) in Basel, Switzerland for monitoring Rhine water quality, controlling pollutant sources and restoring ecological functions. For decades, this specialized organization has introduced many effective proposals on the rectification and conservation of Rhine such as the International Alert Plan, t Rhine Action Agenda triggered by a fi re in a chemical factory in Basel and Rhine Sustainable Development Plan 2020 later.
After common coordinated rectification and prevention among nine countries along Rhine, the pollution has been much alleviated. According to a survey, from 1985 to 2000, the pollutant in Rhine has been reduced by 90%. Currently, there are 63 species of fish living in the Rhine and the ecosystem is restored gradually.
Green Development: Pursuing the Path of Sustainable Development
Learning from others, we can distinguish right and wrong; learning from history, we can know how things rise and fall. The practices of Rhine development reflects that the development and conservation parallel to each other. In this regard, when confi guring Yangtze River Economic Belt, Li Keqiang particularly emphasized “the balance between
development and conservation” to avoid pollution shift caused by industry shift.
As the “Golden Watercourse” i n C h i n a , Ya n g t z e R i v e r ’s shipping and energy value is self-explanatory. The Yangtze River Economic Belt boasts superior natural conditions with Yangtze R iver De lt a, one of the mo st industr ially and economic ally developed regions in China and the Golden Watercourse. Besides, given vast economic hinterland and potential international trade resources, once developed, it will be the “future star” just like the
Rhine and Danube reaches. .
一艘满载车辆的货轮通过三峡五级船闸
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观莱茵河沿岸发展史
看长江经济带的崛起之路
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文/见习记者 吴俊琰
今年4月,中共中央政治局常委、国务院总理李克强乘船溯江而上,考察长江黄金水道,并在重庆组织召开了关于依托黄金水道建设长江经济带的座谈会。时隔一个半月,李克强总理在国务院常务会议上,再次阐释了“为什么要发展长江经济带”。
中国政府网一篇题为《李克强:建立“物畅其流”的市场大通道》的文章指出:“李克强列举了莱茵河、多瑙河沿岸的发展历史。他说,无论是发达国家还是发展中国家,最发达的地区都是沿海地区。从国际经验看,现代工业化的历史,都是由沿海地区先发展起来,然后沿内河而上开发,这是
‘普遍的经济规律’。此外,海运、河运价格相对低廉、节能环保,这也符合‘价格规律’。”
李克强提出的由沿海地区溯内河而上开发的“国际经验”,对于我们深入了解为什么要发展长江经济带以及如何发展长江经济带有着重大借鉴意义。
莱茵河经济带的开发
莱茵河是欧洲第三大河流。莱茵河发源于瑞士,经列支敦士登、奥地利、德国和法国等西欧发达国家,在荷兰汇入北海。莱茵河是东西欧经济的
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两大动脉之一(另一个是多瑙河),由于其优秀的通航能力,被誉为欧洲的“黄金水道”。
就莱茵河而言,在整个人类文明发展史上,特别是近现代,它对于人类文明的演进有着举足轻重的意义。莱茵河流经世界上最早工业化的城市和地区,内河航运非常发达,运输效率是长江的5倍。莱茵河通过运河与荷兰的鹿特丹港相连,它是荷兰第二大城市,也是亚欧大陆桥的西桥头(东桥头是中国的连云港)、欧洲第一大海港,也曾经是世界第一大海港(近年来由于中国经济的飞速发展,上海逐渐超越鹿特丹港)。而莱茵河岸的德国杜伊斯堡则是世界上最大的内河港口。
自第二次工业革命以来,莱茵河的航运价值被沿岸各国充分利用开发,形成了6个重要的工业区,他们依次是:巴塞尔—米卢斯—弗莱堡、斯特拉斯堡、莱茵—内卡、莱茵—美茵、科隆—鲁尔以及鹿特丹—欧洲港区。值得一提的是,莱茵河沿岸城市的发展并不同步,基本遵循“沿海—内河”的发展规律。
由于政治历史原因,鹿特丹港在16世纪才开始朝着贸易城市发展,凭借优越的自然地理环境和地理大发现以及工业革命的历史机遇,到19世纪,鹿特丹港已经成为欧洲举足轻重的商业海港。1870年,德国统一后,大力发展鲁尔工业区,作为鲁尔区的下游出海口,鹿特丹的内河航运价值也初步显现。此后几十年间,鹿特丹的海运和内河航运价值稳步提升。
但是,二战期间,鹿特丹遭到德国法西斯的狂轰滥炸,昔日荣光不复存在。战后,市政当局立马积极重建港口设施,并在1949年恢复港口的通航能力,使鹿特丹自1965年一跃成为世界第一大港,地位延续至今。莱茵河流域经过数百年的发展,形成了依托世界大港鹿特丹、以六大工业区为广阔腹地、干流支流齐头并进的发展格局。
鹿特丹能够成为世界举足轻重的海港固然与其天然海港的优势密不可分,但有内河沿岸工业城市作为它的经济腹地也是一个相当重要的原因。鹿特丹的经济地位也是伴随着内陆工业城市的发展而稳步提升的。
事实上,由于莱茵河是国际河流,统一治理莱茵河并不仅仅是德国的事。而列国对于莱茵河的开发利用远在德国统一之前。1816年,根据维也纳会议结果,“莱茵河航运中央委员会”在德法边境的斯特拉斯堡成立,开始了莱茵河沿岸列国统一开发莱茵河之路。1963年修改协定后至今,“莱茵河航运中央委员会”共有五个成员国:荷兰、比利时、德国、法国和瑞士。在国际公约和中央委员会的制约、管理之下,莱茵河上可以看到飘扬着各国国旗的客货轮熙来攘往,畅行无阻。这便是统一治理的好处,国与国之间的关税壁垒不复存在,边贸互市也非常发达。最值得借鉴的是,开发利用中的地方保护主义被打破,很好地避免增强了各国经济联系,提高了运输效率。了很多不必要的麻烦,
当然,处理问题既要统筹兼顾,又要做到具体问题具体分析。一方面,德国在中央委员会的协调下大力发展莱茵河航运,通航里程达到719公里。另一方面,德国大力建设莱茵河内河航运网,通过疏浚河道、沟通运河,形成点线面结合的全面、综合的水运系统,为工业建设提供了极大便利。在此基础上,因地制宜,形成了鲁尔区、波恩—科隆等沿岸城市带。各大城市带、工业区通过发达的内河航运联结为一体,形成德国经济的强大推动力。
为了充分开发利用莱茵河的航运价值,德国政府可谓煞费苦心。实现江海联运,内河航运网自不必说,此外,德国政府还努力沟通莱茵河与多瑙河,开发新的腹地——在这一点上,莱茵河的天然条件不如长江;但同样地,长江开发并没有充分利用这一巨大的优势。再者,为了提高莱茵河通航能力,德国政府尝试了多种方法改善航道状况。1817年的“图拉整治”将河道裁弯取直,使得鲁尔区的货轮可以到达瑞士的港口。二战之前,德国又花费40余年,实现内河天然河流渠化。但二战期间,内河网遭到破坏。战后,德国政府重新建设内河网,提高干支流渠化水平,统一并提高全国航道标准,内河航道超过6000公里,而达到欧共体IV标准的干流航道有480公里。目前,德国所有航道装备有雷达导航系统,大大提升了轮船的夜航和雾航能力。
大力发展水陆联运也是莱茵河开发的重要工程,比如加强鲁尔区和汉堡港的水陆联系。1990年东西德重归统一后,联邦政府大力建设东部的基础设施,现已形成发达的公路、铁路、内河航运网络,大大地加快了东部德国的现代化、工业化进程,缩小了东西部的差距。
德国对莱茵河的开发经验
说到内河开发,就不得不提到德国了。
莱茵河全长1232公里,流经德国境内约867公里(包括边境线),流域面积覆盖德国领土面积40%以上,是当之无愧的德国经济命脉。德国工业如此发达、经济发展水平位居世界前茅与他们对莱茵河的开发利用密不可分。
德国对莱茵河的开发整治总结起来主要有如下几个特点:统一治理、因段制宜、航运为先、多方兼顾。
莱茵河污染与整治
莱茵河流经各国在追求城市化、工业化的同时也忽略了对流域内自然环境的保护,使莱茵河一度成为“欧洲臭水沟”,多
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瑙河成为“黑海环境杀手”。
20世纪是工业化发展的热潮,莱茵河流域兴建起密集的工业区,如上文提到的鲁尔区就是以煤炭和钢铁工业为主,其他的还有化工等重污染的工业。仅在德国段就有约300家工厂把大量的酸、漂液、染料、铜、镉、汞、去污剂、杀虫剂等上千种污染物倒入河中。因为货运发展需要和疏浚河道带来的便利,莱茵河上航运也迅速增加,油污废水不断注入河中。从1900年到1977年间,莱茵河里铬、铜、镍、锌等金属严重富集,据估计,河水中的各种有害物质达1000种以上。自上世纪50年代起,鱼类几乎在莱茵河上、中游绝迹,下游的荷兰的饮用水和鲜花产业也因来自德国和法国的工业污染而损失严重。
为此,法国、德国、卢森堡、荷兰和瑞士于1950年在瑞士巴塞尔建立了“保护莱茵河国际委员会”(ICPR),负责莱茵河水质监测、监控污染源和恢复生态等工作。几十年间,这个专门的组织为莱茵河的治理、保护提供了很多卓有成效的方案,比如提出“国际警报方案”以及由于1986年巴塞尔化工厂失火案促成的《莱茵河行动纲领》和后来的《莱茵河可持续发展2020规划》
。
通过流域范围内9个国家的联合协调治理、防护,莱茵河污染问题得到了较好的解决。据调查,1985年到2000年间,莱茵河中的有毒物质减少了90%。目前,莱茵河中生活着63种鱼,生态系统稳步恢复。
绿色开发——走可持续发展道路
“以人为鉴,可以明得失;以史为鉴,可以知兴替。”莱茵河开发的经验告诉我们一定要“开发、保护两头抓”。为此,李克强在布局长江经济带时特别强调“要处理好发展和保护的关系”,避免产业转移带来污染转移。
同时,长江作为我国的“黄金水道”,开发长江的航运、能源价值的重要性是不言而喻的。目前,长江经济带以中国工业、经济最为发达地区之一——长江三角洲为龙头,依托黄金水道,其自然条件非常优越。并且,由于长江经济带具有广阔的经济腹地和潜在的国际贸易资源,一旦发展起来,必能像莱茵河、多瑙河流域那样,成为中国经济发展的“明日之星”。
莱茵河中的货轮
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Development History of Areas along Rhine
Rise of Yangtze River Economic Belt
In April this year, Li Keqiang, Member of the standing committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Premier of the State Council, inspected the golden watercourse of Yangtze River by boat and held a meeting concerning the development of Yangtze River Economic Belt relying on the golden watercourse. After one and a half months, in an executive meeting of the State Council, Premier Li explained again “why Yangtze River Economic Belt should be developed.”
According to an article on the website of the Central People’s Government of People’s Republic of China, Li Keqiang: Establishing A Great Market Channel for Facilitating Goods Flow, “Li Keqiang listed the development history of Rhine and Danube riverside areas. No matter it is in a developed country or a developing country, the most developed area is the coastal areas. Judging from international practices and modern industrial history, the ‘common law of economy’ is that the coastal area is the first to develop and then its development will facilitate the development of areas along the inland rivers. Besides, ocean and river transportation is cheaper, energy-saving and environmentally friendly, which accords with the ‘law of price’.”
The “international practices” of development from coastal areas to inland river areas brought up by Li Keqiang provides us with a very important reference about why and how Yangtze River Economic Belt should be developed.
Watercourse” of Europe.
In the history of human civilization, especially in modern era, Rhine plays an important role in the evolution of civilization. Rhine runs through the world’s earliest industrial cities and regions. It boasts highly advanced inland shipping and its shipping efficiency is five times of Yangtze River. Rotterdam, the estuary of Rhine, is the second largest city in Netherlands, also the West End of Eurasian Continental Bridge (the East End is China’s Lianyungang), the largest European harbor and the former world’s largest harbor (With a fast development of China’s economy, Shanghai took Rotterdam’s place). Duisburg of Germany is the world’s largest inland port.
Since the Second Industrial Revolution, the shipping value of Rhine has been fully explored by countries along the river. Six key industrial regions then came into existence: Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, Strasbourg, Rhine-Neka, Rhine-Main, Cologne-Ruhr and Rotterdam-Europe ports. It is worth mentioning that the riverside cities did not develop simultaneously but followed the law of “coast-inland rivers”.
Due to political and historical reasons, the Rotterdam port started to develop itself into a trading city only in the 16th century. Relying on its geographic advantages, great geographic discoveries and opportunities brought by the Industrial Revolution, Rotterdam became an important trading harbor of Europe in the 19th Century. In 1870 upon the unification of Germany, the Ruhr industrial region was much developed. As the downstream estuary, the river transportation value of Rotterdam stated to unfold. For decades ever since, the ocean and river shipping value of Rotterdam increased steadily.
During the Second World War, however, Rotterdam was bombarded by German fascists and lost its prosperity. After the war, the municipal authority rebuilt the port facilities and restored its navigation capacity in 1949. Rotterdam became the worlds’ largest port in 1965 and kept that title ever since.
The Development of Rhine Economic Belt
As third largest river in Europe, Rhine originates in Switzerland, runs through Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and other developed Western European countries, and flows into the North Sea in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rhine is one of the two arteries of Eastern and Western European economy (the other one is Danube). With its excellent navigation capacity, Rhine is known as the “Golden
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In general, after centuries of development, the Rhine reaches formed the layout of Rotterdam port, six industrial regions in the vast hinterland and main rivers and tributaries.
Rotterdam’s position as an indispensable port in the world depends much on its natural advantage, yet the economic hinterland of riverside industrial cities is another key reason. In conclusion, the economic position of Rotterdam rises along with the development of the inland cities.
When addressing problems, one shall make overall plans while analyzing specifi c problems. On the one hand, Germany strove to develop Rhine shipping under the coordination of the Central Committee, expanding its navigation range to 719 kilometers. On the other hand, Germany constructed the inland river shipping network to form a comprehensive water shipping system, which greatly facilitated the industrial construction. On this basis, considering the local conditions, Germany set up Ruhr region, Bonn-Cologne and other riverside city belts. And these city belts and industrial regions are stringed by inland river transportation to drive Germany’s economic development.
The German government has spared no pains to make full use of Rhine’s shipping value. In addition to connecting river and ocean transportation and shaping river network, Germany also strove to connect Rhine and Danube to explore new hinterland. In this regard, the natural condition of Yangtze is better than that of Rhine but it has not been fully leveraged. German government took many measures to improve the shipping lanes in order to increase the navigation capacity of Rhine. In “Tula Regulation” of 1817, the tortuous channels were made straight to allow freighters to pass without obstacle from Ruhr region to ports in Switzerland. Before the Second World War, German government spent over four decades to rebuild the inland river network and realize the inland river canalization. During the War, however, the network was destroyed. After the War, the German government reconstructed the network to raise the canalization level of main rivers and tributaries, harmonized and raised the national standard of the shipping lanes. The inland shipping lane is over 6000 kilometers long, of which 480-km main river shipping lane conforms to the IV standards of European Community. Now all shipping lanes in Germany are equipped with radar navigation system, which greatly boosts navigation capacity at night and in fog.
Coordinated land-and-water transport is another important project in Rhine development, for instance, strengthening the connection between Ruhr region and Hamburg port. In 1990 when Eastern and Western Germany were unified, the Federal Government developed the infrastructure in the East. A network of roads, railways and river transport has taken shape, which strongly speeds up the modernization and industrialization of Eastern Germany and shortens the gap between the West and the East.
Germany’s Development Experiences of Rhine
Speaking of inland river development, Germany comes to the fore.
Spanning a total length of 1232 kilometers long, the Rhine runs through 867 kilometers in Germany (including the borderline) with reaches covering over 40% of Germany’s territory, thus well deserves the title of Germany’s economic artery. Germany’s development and exploration of Rhine contributes a lot to its powerful industry and its world’s leading economy.
The development and rectification of Rhine can be summarized into the following points: unifi ed administration, adjusting measures to different river sections and prioritizing shipping while considering multiple aspects.
In fact, Rhine is an international river whose unified administration is not just the responsibility of Germany, prior to which other countries had already begun to tap into it. According to the resolutions of Congress of Vienna in 1816, the Central Committee of Rhine Transportation was set up in Strasbourg, a city at the border of Germany and France. Hence the unified administration of Rhine by riverside countries commenced. Since the agreement amendment in 1963 till now, the Central Committee of Rhine Transportation consists of five members: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Franc e and Switzer land. Under the regulation and management of the international conventions and the Central Committee, passenger and cargo liners of various country fl ags come and go on Rhine unimpededly. This is the benefi t brought by unified administration. The tariff barrier among countries collapsed, and the border trade flourished. It is laudable that local protectionism was smashed, thus avoiding unnecessary troubles, enhancing economic ties between countries and raising transportation effi ciency.
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Netherlands and Switzerland established the “International
The Pollution and Rectifi cation of Rhine
While pursuing urbanization and industrialization, riverside countries of Rhine ignored the protection of the environment. Rhine once became the “European Ditch” and Danube “Environmental Killer of Black Sea”.
During the industrialization boom of the 20th Century, many industrial regions were set up along Rhine, including Ruhr region focusing on coal and steel industry and others with heavy-polluting industries such as chemical industry. In Germany section of Rhine only, about 300 plants discharged thousands of pollutants like acid, bleach liquor, pigment, copper, cadmium, mercury, detergent, pesticides into the river. Because of freight development need and convenience by watercourse dredging, the shipping volume of Rhine rapidly increased with more greasy dirt and wastewater injected in the river. From 1900 to 1977, there was a grave enrichment of chromium, copper, nickel and zinc in the river. It was estimated that the pollutants in the river exceeded 1000 categories. Since 1950s, fi sh was almost extinct in the upper and middle reaches of Rhine. The drinking water and fl oral industry of the downstream Netherlands also suffered great losses from industrial pollution in Germany and France.
To this end, in 1950, France, Germany, Luxembourg,
Committee for Protecting Rhine” (ICPR) in Basel, Switzerland for monitoring Rhine water quality, controlling pollutant sources and restoring ecological functions. For decades, this specialized organization has introduced many effective proposals on the rectification and conservation of Rhine such as the International Alert Plan, t Rhine Action Agenda triggered by a fi re in a chemical factory in Basel and Rhine Sustainable Development Plan 2020 later.
After common coordinated rectification and prevention among nine countries along Rhine, the pollution has been much alleviated. According to a survey, from 1985 to 2000, the pollutant in Rhine has been reduced by 90%. Currently, there are 63 species of fish living in the Rhine and the ecosystem is restored gradually.
Green Development: Pursuing the Path of Sustainable Development
Learning from others, we can distinguish right and wrong; learning from history, we can know how things rise and fall. The practices of Rhine development reflects that the development and conservation parallel to each other. In this regard, when confi guring Yangtze River Economic Belt, Li Keqiang particularly emphasized “the balance between
development and conservation” to avoid pollution shift caused by industry shift.
As the “Golden Watercourse” i n C h i n a , Ya n g t z e R i v e r ’s shipping and energy value is self-explanatory. The Yangtze River Economic Belt boasts superior natural conditions with Yangtze R iver De lt a, one of the mo st industr ially and economic ally developed regions in China and the Golden Watercourse. Besides, given vast economic hinterland and potential international trade resources, once developed, it will be the “future star” just like the
Rhine and Danube reaches. .
一艘满载车辆的货轮通过三峡五级船闸
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