By staff reporter YI FAN

The Qingjiang River, rolling through the mountain range.

THE 400-kilometer Qingjiang River, second tributary of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province, has a drainage area of 17,000 square kilometers. Its advantageous natural conditions have made it a key water power development project.

The Yangtze River Water Conservancy Committee has carried out research on the Qingjiang River since the 1950s. In 1985 a 20-year stage development plan was issued, and in 1987, the Hubei Qingjiang Development Company was established. Today three power stations -- the Geheyan, Gaobazhou, and Shuibuya -- along the Qingjiang River testify to the company's success.

Qingjiang System

Since the establishment of the Qingjiang Company, its managers have gone all out to find an operational system suitable for the development of the Qingjiang River.

Back in 1987 when the Geheyan project started, the Qingjiang Company took the lead in adopting the owner responsibility system, the competitive bidding and tender system, and the project inspection and control system. It was also the first hydraulic industry company in China to combine construction with management.

Increased construction required a change of system, and in September 1993 Wang Dingguo took over the post of chairman of the board of directors, and general manager of the Qingjiang Company. Under his leadership the company moved from owner responsibility to a modern enterprise system more suited to the market economy. In 1995, the Qingjiang Development Company was accordingly renamed the Hubei Qingjiang Hydraulic Development Co., Ltd. The goal of this new economic entity was to realize the business integration of its investors and operators on the basis of separating the right of ownership from the right of operation.

Wang Dingguo, chairman of the board of directors, and the Qingjiang Company Party Committee secretary, being interviewed by a news reporter.

This new system guarantees the Qingjiang River drainage area progressive development and stable company growth. In just five years, the company's capital increased from 0.1 billion yuan to 1.25 billion yuan, and its total assets to 15 billion yuan.

In 1997, the State Council designated the Qingjiang Company as the first drainage area progressive comprehensive development experimental unit, and in 2000 the State Economic and Trade Commission named it as one of the five models for state-owned enterprise reform and development.

Management and Technological Innovation

This project is large and complex, encompassing social, economic, resource, and environmental factors. In order to clarify its development orientation, the Qingjiang Company makes continuous management and technological innovations.

As regards power station construction, electricity production control, equipment overhaul, information supervision and control, and service, the company exercises systematic and integrated management. An overall plan has been made regarding the development, exploitation, and protection of hydraulic power, aquiculture, shipping, tourism, and mineral resources, based on the principle of sustainable development.

The company pays close attention to its human resources, integrating organizational goals with personal needs. Recently, the Qingjiang River Drainage Area Development System and Management research topic won the top Management Modernization Innovation Achievement Award issued by the China Enterprise Confederation.

At the same time the company makes full use of technology in order to guarantee construction quality, and realize energy generation ahead of schedule. New technology adopted during the Geheyan project construction enabled its four generating units to go into operation four years ahead of time, thereby generating direct economic returns of 1.4 billion yuan. The Shuibuya project required complex technology and high investment, and the adoption of new technology saved two billion yuan.

To meet the demands of its power stations, the company established ten automatic systems. One was the GPS system, used for the first time to monitor dam safety, and which played an important role in flood control in 1998.

The company has been awarded 11 awards at state, provincial, and ministerial levels for technological improvement, and in November 1998 the Geheyan Power Plant was named "China's First Conventional First-class Hydropower Station."

Win-win Economic Returns and Social Benefits

A night view of the Shuibuya power station construction site.

Systematic and technological innovation has brought huge economic returns. The company currently has three branches and 21 subsidiary companies with a total of 1,100 employees, of which 25 are national or provincial experts. Its total assets amount to 15 billion yuan, its net assets to 8 billion yuan, and per capita output value to 800,000 yuan. Riverine areas have also benefited from the company's development.

The three power stations have generated development of transportation, municipal construction, tourism and telecommunication facilities in the backward riverine areas. The Shuibuya power station project, the biggest aid-the-poor propeller project in southwest Hubei Province's ethnic minority areas, provided a total of 90,000 job opportunities, and created 1.07 percent of Hubei Province's GNP.

Of the numerous social benefits the Qingjiang project brings, flood fighting is the most important. The river played a key role at the most critical point of the Yangtze River flood control in 1998 by accommodating flood water to an unprecedented height of 203.94 meters, 3.94 meters above the designated water level.

During his visit to the Geheyan Hydropower Station in 1998, premier Zhu Rongji said, "The Geheyan Hydropower Station has played an important role in this year's flood fighting, and I'd like to extend my gratitude to the whole staff."