Tai’an Port and Navigation: “Four-Dimensional Empowerment” Promotes the Deep Integration of Party Building and Business Operations

Recently, the pilot project for "High-Quality Development of Inland Waterway Transportation in Tai'an City" passed inspection, with multiple innovative achievements selected as provincial-level exemplary cases. This marks not only a breakthrough in technological and managerial innovation but also a vivid practice of high-quality Party leadership driving inland navigation from "connecting rivers and navigation" to "prosperity and thriving navigation."

As a key node of the golden waterway of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the inland waterways of Tai'an, Shandong, are embracing a strategic opportunity period for connecting rivers to the sea and improving quality and efficiency. The Port, Navigation, Railway, and Airport Service Center of Tai'an Transportation Bureau has established a "Four-Dimensional Empowerment" leadership system supported by four major actions: "Forging the Soul and Empowering," "Chain-Driven Breakthroughs," "Integrated Quality Improvement," and "Strengthening the Foundation." This system transforms the Party's political and organizational advantages into development momentum to overcome bottlenecks in waterway transportation, effective services that warm the hearts of shipping enterprises, and governance efficiency that standardizes industry operations.

Forging the Soul and Empowering: Rooting Service Awareness Along the Canal

Thought is the precursor to action. The Port, Navigation, Railway, and Airport Service Center strictly implements the "First Agenda" system, transforming important discussions on high-quality inland waterway development into project-based, checklist-style annual key tasks such as ensuring smooth navigation and promoting multimodal transport. Relying on platforms like the "Port and Navigation Lecture Hall" and "Youth Theory Classroom," they conduct practical teaching on topics such as smart waterways and green ports, enabling Party members and cadres to understand policies and excel in service. In conjunction with the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, they organized Party members to visit red education bases to reflect on their original aspirations, deepened the practice of "Party members showing their identity and being pioneers on the front line," and guided Party members and cadres to take proactive roles in waterway inspections and emergency navigation assurance. Regular ideological refinement has rooted service awareness along the canal and ensured the original intention of serving the people is implemented on the waterway transportation lines.

Chain-Driven Breakthroughs: Letting the Party Flag Fly on the Front Lines of Industry

Facing structural contradictions such as "having waterways but lacking cargo volume" and "having ports but lacking industries," the Port, Navigation, Railway, and Airport Service Center has established Party branches along the industrial chain and dispatched Party members to the front lines of breakthroughs, using organizational strength to tackle challenges. Party member leaders spearheaded nine specialized investigations, identifying shortcomings in areas such as container quality improvement and navigation management, and proposed countermeasures. Port service teams actively expanded markets and attracted cargo sources, helping enterprises add six new container shipping routes in the first half of 2026, bringing the total number of routes in the city to 33. They developed new non-coal cargo types such as glucose and promoted the implementation of "bulk-to-container" for 15 types of goods, continuously optimizing the cargo structure. To address insufficient transport capacity, the center organized specialized training on ship recruitment, with Party members providing one-on-one guidance to enterprises on ship dismantling and renewal. This year, six old ships were retired, seven new passenger ships were built, and two cargo ships were introduced, achieving route expansion, capacity improvement, and diversified business models, unleashing the economic vitality of the canal.

Integrated Quality Improvement: Warming Thousands of Sails with Service

The Port, Navigation, Railway, and Airport Service Center has deepened the "Five-Link Co-Construction" mechanism, collaborating with grassroots Party branches in ports, ship locks, and engineering projects to carry out over ten practical co-construction activities, bringing organizational life to the front lines of operations and resolving collaboration bottlenecks. In 2026, the center launched the "Crafting Harbors with Ingenuity, Warming Thousands of Sails with Service" brand to optimize the business environment, conducting activities such as "Safety Production Month Port Visits." They moved service platforms forward, regularly providing policy interpretation, compliance reminders, and point-to-point implementation of relief measures. During one co-construction activity, they coordinated on-site solutions for ship lock passage issues, prompting sailors to remark, "Even as the ship sails thousands of miles, service is always nearby." The deep integration of Party building and business operations has brought not only operational efficiency to canal navigation but also tangible warmth and service quality.

Strengthening the Foundation: Guarding Peace with Refined Governance

The Port, Navigation, Railway, and Airport Service Center has advanced the construction of the "Water Nourishes Integrity, Prosperity Ensures Safe Navigation" clean governance culture, conducting thorough risk assessments of job-related integrity risks. They organized eight online and offline training sessions to address skill gaps through practical training. Balancing strict management with compassionate care, they held 12 activities such as visits, condolences, and skill competitions, forging a port and navigation team with both disciplinary rigor and human warmth. The achievements of Party building here include not only hard data but also heartwarming stories. Party building videos and red-themed presentations have won awards in municipal competitions, telling the story of port and navigation struggles. The stories of young Party members were included in "Tai Mountain Public Servants," Party affairs cadres were recognized as "Outstanding Party Affairs Workers" by municipal agencies, and frontline Party members were honored as "Top Ten Model Military Spouses" in Tai'an City. From achievements at work to the inheritance of family values, the overlapping effects of Party building driving group building and family values promoting work style are increasingly evident.

As the morning mist rises again by Dongping Lake, the cranes tower over Tai'an Port's Laohu and Pengji operation areas, and a cargo ship loaded with containers sounds its horn and sets sail southward along the canal. Party-led "Four-Dimensional Empowerment" is injecting surging momentum into the high-quality new journey of Tai'an's inland navigation.