China's Ministry of Railways has been challenged at a recent
forum on coal because of its monopoly of transportation.
Coal often cannot be shipped because of lack of railways. In
2004 the
supply of cars to the main coal areas can only meet 30 percent of
demand. Large amounts of coal cannot be shipped out, according to
reliable sources.
Coal is the main energy resource in China. But most of the coal
is in north China's Shanxi
Province and Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, and northwest Shaanxi
Province. Main consumers of coal, however, lie in the east and
southeast China, relatively developed areas.
Some provinces and big companies, such as China Datang Group, an
electric power company, and Inner Mongolia Yitai Coal Company
Limited, proposed that they can build railways themselves and wrote
report to the State Development and Reform Commission. According to
Dong Yan, director of the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation
under the Commission, it was "baffled" by the Ministry of Railways,
who serves as the only "master" of railways in China.
The Ministry itself has done its best to transport more coal.
About ten days ago, the Ministry urged its branches to transport
more coal to meet the demand. However, China has only 73,000
kilometers of railway -- much less than the length of one cigarette
per Chinese person.
In order to transport more coal, the transprot of many other
goods has been suspended. For example, in Shanxi Province, coal
transported by railways increased from 77 percent among all the
goods in 2003 to 88 percent this year. Transportation of goods with
high added value such as steel and chemical combination has been
delayed and this seriously hurt the economic development of the
province.
The Ministry has said that in 2020 the railway will be able to
transport two billion tons of coal per year, so the demand can be
completely met by then.
But critics say the coal can not wait for fifteen years. If it
can not be shipped in time, piles can self-ignite. Wu Yin, deputy
director general of the Energy Bureau of the Commission, who has
just come back from Shanxi, said workers in coal mines there were
busy moving coal from one spot to another for fear that it might
self-ignite.
"The kerosene they use in one month can reach 30 tons," he
said.” Because of traffic jams, it is very common for trucks
carrying coal to wait for one or two days without moving a meter
forward."
The traffic jams are mostly caused by bad roads damaged by
trucks overloaded with coal.
Wu said there is no problem with the output of coal, the most
important problem is lack of railways. Reforms must be undertaken
in the field of railways, and the monopoly of the Ministry of
Railways should be broken down.
The Ministry has signed agreements with local governments of ten
provinces to build railways together.
But Dong doubts what this will bring about. "Maybe local
governments will build railways belonging to the Ministry of
Railways."
Dong said if local governments and big companies can invest in
railways and run them themselves, it can greatly push the reform of
railways forward.
Liu Yingqiu, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, said the central government should encourage
non-government investment. "The Ministry of Railways need not be
afraid of it."
(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2004)