”Made in China” Ping.
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Posted on 11/13/2007 5:58:45 PM PST by JACKRUSSELL
(BEIJING) - More than 300 cargo ships have been held up on a stretch of river in southern China because of thick silt and low water levels, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, citing local navigation authorities.
The ships, carrying coal, carbon, cement and grains, have been held up since early November in the Xijiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River, en route to the southern province of Guangdong, the report said.
"Thick sediment has made the river route shallow and delayed many large ships," the report said.
Heavy industrialization and the impact of damming has caused increased sediment in many Chinese rivers, impacting their ecosystems and shipping navigation.
The water level in the Xijiang River had dropped to 1.8 meters (5 ft 11 in) in the dry season, below the usual range of 2.2 to 2.8 meters, the report said.
Because of the low levels, only 100 to 200 ships could pass through the Chuangzhou ship lock and into Guangdong a day, compared to the usual daily capacity of 300 ships a day.
Workers were trying to dredge the channel, but the process could take as long as 10 days, the report said.
Researchers say that China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, is also retaining huge amounts of sediment, causing significant erosion in the Yangtze River and damaging the river's ecosystem.
They’re requiring too much of their rivers. I think the one thing that is certain is that Chinese transportation and power costs are about to go up big time because of silting and its deterrent effect on building new dams. China’s era as the home of low-cost manufacturing is about to end, and China is still a pretty poor country.
Ooopsie.
Probably just lead build up.
So who will be the next major importer to the U.S.? Just curious.
I guess the reporter couldn't find a way to link the silt problem in the Xijiang River to global warming so they threw this in. Note that 1) the problem on the Yangtze is exactly the opposite (not enough silt downstream) and 2) other than being in China, the Xijiang and Yangzte Rivers are not connected in any way.
Just look at the countries of origin of the shirts you see at chain stores. At one chain store, I’m seeing Cambodia, India and Vietnam. I expect that as the Chinese government’s new restrictions on foreign investment go into effect - banning new foreign export-related investments that compete with Chinese companies in foreign markets - foreign firms will start diverting new investments outside of China. That’s a good thing for established Chinese business owners, but not such a good thing for either China’s economy or China’s workers.
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