Inventory of China's Industrial Heritage Directory: Yunnan-Vietnam Railway Becomes the Only Multinational Project
Nankou Special Train Depot of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. Photo / Reporter Cui Yifei
February 11, 2018, Legal Evening News
Legal Evening News / Law Vision News (Reporter Cui Yifei) — Recently, the "First Batch of China's Industrial Heritage Protection Directory" was officially announced. The initial batch of 100 items includes government-managed enterprises from the Westernization Movement period as well as key construction projects after the founding of New China, covering representative industrial heritages across multiple categories such as shipbuilding, military industry, and railways. Reporters from Legal Evening News / Law Vision News sorted through the data and found that the directory covers 28 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). Among them, Jiangsu Province has the highest number of items, the Coupont Dock has the longest history, and the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway is the only multinational industrial heritage project.
Covering Multiple Categories of Heavy and Light Industry
The "First Batch of China's Industrial Heritage Protection Directory" was sponsored by the Publicity Department of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), and undertaken by the National Academy of Innovation Strategy (NAIS) of CAST and the Urban Planning Society of China (UPSC).
Shipbuilding, military industry, railways, mining, steel smelting, power generation, water supply, cement, electricity, petroleum, banknote printing, wine brewing, flour processing... Legal Evening News / Law Vision News noted that the directory covers multiple fields of heavy and light industry.
In the bridge category alone, 9 items were selected, including the Nanjing and Wuhan Yangtze River bridges, as well as the Jinan Luokou and Henan Zhengzhou Yellow River railway bridges. The Luanhe Railway Bridge, initially built in 1892, is the first railway bridge built by the Chinese themselves and is also the oldest bridge in the directory. Regarding the parts related to the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, the famous Human-Foot Bridge (Yiren Bridge) was specifically mentioned, hailed as a masterpiece in the history of world railway bridges.
The Foziling Reservoir Dam, initially built in 1952, is known as the "First Dam of New China." It is also the only dam heritage item in the directory and the sole selected project from Anhui Province.
The Huafeng Paper Mill in Hangzhou, initially built in 1922, is the only paper mill in the directory.
In the selection of the first batch, a relative emphasis was placed on industrial relics from the late Qing Dynasty Westernization Movement period and the Republic of China era. According to information gathered by Legal Evening News / Law Vision News, the subsequent selection batches will pay more attention to industrial relics from the post-founding period of New China.
Covering 28 Provinces (Autonomous Regions and Municipalities)
Sorting the 100 industrial heritage items by region, reporters from Legal Evening News / Law Vision News found that the directory projects involve 28 provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities) across the country.
Jiangsu Province ranks first with 14 items, with its capital city, Nanjing, accounting for 11 of them, most of which are industrial relics from the Republic of China era.
Liaoning Province ranks second with 7.75 items. The Northeast Arsenal also involves Heilongjiang Province, thus counted as 0.5 items; the Chinese Eastern Railway crosses Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, thus calculated as an average of 0.25 items per region.
Beijing Municipality and Hebei Province tied for third place with 7.5 items each, with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway split evenly between the two regions at 0.5 items each.
Shandong Province ranked fourth with 7 items; Shanghai Municipality and Hubei Province received 6 items each; and the two municipalities directly under the central government, Tianjin and Chongqing, had 3 items selected each.
In the directory, reporters from Legal Evening News / Law Vision News also saw the Miaoli Oil Mine in Taiwan Province, initially built in 1877, which is the earliest discovered petroleum location in Taiwan.
"Yunnan-Vietnam Railway" Becomes the Only Multinational Project
Reporters from Legal Evening News / Law Vision News noted that the directory is replete with "cross-boundary" projects.
The Chongqing Anti-Japanese War Ordnance Industry Site, initially built in 1939, covers Jiangbei District, Shapingba District, Jiulongpo District, Dadukou District, and Wansheng Economic Development Zone.
The Jiaoji Railway, initially built in 1899, connects Qingdao, Weifang, Zibo, and Jinan cities in Shandong Province.
The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway spans Beijing and Hebei Province; the Chinese Eastern Railway crosses Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning; the Baoji-Chengdu Railway crosses Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces; the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center involves Gansu Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; and the Northeast Arsenal is distributed across Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, and Bei'an City, Heilongjiang Province.
Aside from cross-region, cross-city, and cross-province projects, the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway became the only multinational industrial heritage item in the directory.
The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (Haiphong City, Vietnam - Kunming, China), initially built in the early 20th century, is China's first international railway and one of the few "meter-gauge" railways nationwide. It was once hailed as the third-largest engineering feat in the world, comparable to the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.
Coupont Dock Becomes the Oldest Industrial Heritage
Sorting the 100 items by their initial construction era, 26 out of the 100 originated in the 19th century, while 74 originated in the 20th century, among which industrial heritage items post-dating 1949 account for 18 items.
Located at No. 188, Changzhou Street, Changzhou Island, Huangpu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, the Coupont Dock is now part of the Guangzhou Huangpu Shipyard. Initially built in 1845, the dock site still survives. It is the first shipyard dock established by foreigners in China, making it the oldest industrial project in the directory with a history of 173 years.
Project 816, initially built in 1967 and located in Fuling District, Chongqing City, served as part of the Third Front Construction (Sanxian Construction) and is China's second nuclear raw material industrial base. Dubbed the "world's largest artificial cave," it is the "youngest" project in the directory.
Second Batch of China's Industrial Heritage Protection Directory Expected to Be Announced in the Second Half of the Year
Liu Xiangdong, a core member of the research group for the China Industrial Heritage Protection Directory at the NAIS and the Institute of Innovation Environment under CAST, introduced to Legal Evening News / Law Vision News reporters that the first batch of 100 industrial heritage items involves most provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country. However, when experts from various fields conducted evaluations, regional considerations were not taken into account. Instead, evaluations were based on conditions such as historical value, technological value, social value, breakthrough nature, guiding significance, scarcity, and authenticity of the industrial heritage, ultimately selecting 100 items from over 300 candidate projects.
Liu Xiangdong also stated that during the selection process, they also contacted some industrial enterprises, many of which felt that the selection activity was a shaping of corporate culture and therefore strongly supported it. At the same time as announcing the list, the expert group will also discuss and provide recommendations regarding the protection of industrial heritage.
Liu Xiangdong revealed that the second batch of China's Industrial Heritage Protection Directory is expected to be announced in the second half of 2018.
Reporter: Cui Yifei
