Considering the characteristics of inland ports,such as their relatively small scale and hinterland,high sensitivity to transportation costs,scattered distribution of port-adjacent enterprises,and weak foundation of the collection and distribution network,this research explores the overall planning ideas and methods for small inland ports in plain water network areas,aiming to address practical issues in the actual work of inland port planning,including how to select reasonable locations to support regional economic and industrial development,balance the relationship between the intensification of public docks and the reserved development of enterprise docks,and strengthen multimodal transport connections.The research proposes it is necessary to deeply integrate with local industrial development to strengthen the reliability of throughput forecasting,and conduct directional economic analysis and traffic volume estimation for water transportation.It is also necessary to strengthen the coordination of “multiple plans integration” to achieve full coverage of industries and regional balance in public operation areas,and a multi-port layout with sufficient reserved shoreline for cargo owners.When analyzing the specific location selection of each public operation area,factors such as location,planning,waterway conditions,industry,demand,and roads should be comprehensively considered.Furthermore,the concept of comprehensive transportation and logistics planning centered around ports should be improved.The methods have been applied to the planning practice of Tongxiang port area in Jiaxing inland river port.At present,the on-schedule implementation rate of public operation areas in this plan has exceeded 80%,which fully verifies the practical guiding value of the research methods.