V. Development Goals for the Next Five Years

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), China will continue to develop its transport industry in accordance with the overall plan to seek economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress and the Four-pronged Strategy. It will implement the guideline of innovation, coordination, green development, opening up, and sharing of benefits, continue to center on the people’s needs, improve the quality and efficiency of development, and fully utilize the comparative advantages of different means of transport. China will continue to develop its transport grid characterized by intelligent management, integrated services and green development, and build a comprehensive transport system with functional “nodes” that connect domestic and international transport channels, cover urban and rural areas, and provide integrated and efficient transport services. All this will contribute to the completion of the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, to the growth of the Chinese economy, and to connecting China more closely with the rest of the world.

Driving the reform of transport to a deeper level. China will promote the further integration of different means of transport, and build a safe, convenient, efficient, green, and economical modern transport system. It will push ahead the market-oriented reform of its railways, deepen reforms of the investment and financing system, financial powers and expenditure responsibilities, and reform its airspace management system. At the same time, it will further promote the transformation of government functions, continue to streamline administration and delegate powers to lower levels, strengthen regulations, improve government services and enhance administrative efficiency.

Building a transport network that covers the whole of China and extends beyond its borders. China will build a comprehensive transport network that spreads from east to west and south to north, construct passageways that extend beyond its borders, and develop sea routes for the Maritime Silk Road. China will develop a high-quality fast-transit grid, form a high-speed rail network, improve the national expressway network, build an appropriate number of expressways at the local level, and enhance the functions of airline hubs and national and regional airports. China will improve its basic road network to cover more areas, speed up the construction of railways in the central and western areas, upgrade national and provincial highways and construction of congested sections, improve coastal and inland river transport facilities, strengthen the construction of roads and airports in rural areas, and connect the oil and gas pipelines in different areas. China will improve its postal services and network, and strengthen the infrastructure for express mail delivery. By 2020, China will have 30,000 km of high-speed railways, covering 80 percent of big cities, and 30,000 km of newly renovated expressways. Administrative villages with the necessary conditions will have tarmac and cement roads and shuttle bus services, and all villages will have access to mail service.

Developing modern and efficient intercity transport. In urban agglomerations, China will build commuting circles of 1-2 hours between the central cities and between central and peripheral cities, and one-hour commuting circles between central cities and key peripheral towns. In urban areas, it will vigorously develop intercity high-speed and suburban railways, and form a multi-level rail transit network. With priority focused on public transit, China will speed up the development of its urban rail and bus rapid transit, and other means of high-capacity public transport. By 2020, intercity railway networks will be completed in the urban agglomerations of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Central Plains, Chengdu-Chongqing, and Shandong Peninsula areas. More efforts will be made in cities with three million or more residents to form urban rail transport networks, and about 3,000 km of new tracks will be added to the urban rail transit system. China will also strengthen the development of terminals for postal and express delivery services.

Building integrated transport hubs. China will enhance the layout of its transport hubs, build international transport hubs in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and improve the services and functions of national, regional and local transport hubs. It will strengthen the construction of key transport centers in central and western China and key ports in border regions, and increase their impacts over a wider area. China will improve the services of its transport hubs, improve the transfer facilities and the collecting and distributing networks, enable seamless passenger and freight transfer, and coordinate different means of transport, so as to increase the efficiency of transport and logistics.

Promoting the green and intelligent development of transport services. China is striving to push forward the green development of transport through conservation and intensive use of resources and promoting the use of standardized, low-carbon, and modern equipment and energy-saving means in the transport sector. With the implementation of the “Internet + transport” action plan, China is encouraging the development of intelligent transport, and the application of advanced information technology and smart appliances. More efforts will be made in the development of through-transport, smart management and public information systems, in strengthening multimodal transport, and in enhancing the quality and profit of transport services.

Improving safety in the transport industry. China will improve the regulations and system for transport safety control, and see to it that the responsibilities of transport businesses and those of the supervising organs are thoroughly implemented. China will strengthen its capacity for emergency response and rescue, emphasizing precautionary measures, carrying out special actions to ensure transport safety and strengthening the screening of potential safety hazards and security risks. It will also focus on key areas, fully implement safety control in the transport industry, and resolutely strive to reduce the occurrence of serious accidents.

Conclusion

To achieve the Two Centenary Goals and realize the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, higher standards must be set for the development of transport in China. Transport promotes development, exchanges bring about cooperation, and interconnectivity enables mutual benefits. The Chinese government will continue to improve the country’s transport services so as to better serve China’s socioeconomic development, and continue to strengthen cooperation in the area of transport with other countries so that they can take new opportunities and address challenges together to realize common development and prosperity.