Thorough Implementation of the New Development Philosophy to Achieve the Leapfrog Development of Transportation and Communication

Thorough Implementation of the New Development Philosophy to Achieve the Leapfrog Development of Transportation and Communication

—Series Report VI on the Economic and Social Development Achievements since the 18th CPC National Congress

Source: National Bureau of Statistics 

Published on: September 21, 2022 Characters: 5006

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee headed by Comrade Xi Jinping, the transportation industry and the post & telecommunications industry have made remarkable achievements. The infrastructure network is becoming more improved, new technologies and new business formats are booming, service quality is continuously improving, and the industries' strategic support capabilities are constantly strengthening. From 2013 to 2021, the added value of China's transportation, warehousing and postal industries achieved an annual average of 6.9% in real terms, and their basic, leading and strategic roles were further highlighted. They have laid a solid foundation for building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and achieving the Second Centenary Goal.

I. Emphasis on Innovation for Continuous Improvement of Transportation and Communication Networks

(I) Continuous increase of investment and construction for transportation network improvement

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, historic achievements have been made in the construction of the comprehensive transportation system. From 2013 to 2021, the cumulative investment in the national transportation industry exceeded RMB 27 trillion, the transportation infrastructure network kept improving, and the comprehensive transportation network consisting of "10 vertical and 10 horizontal" channels have been basically formed. By the end of 2021, China's railway operating length, highway length, navigable inland waterway length, civil aviation's scheduled flight route length, and oil (gas) pipeline length reached 151,000 kilometers, 5.28 million kilometers, 128,000 kilometers, 6.9 million kilometers, and 131,000 kilometers respectively, and increased by 54.4%, 24.6%, 2.1%, 110.3% and 43.2% compared with 2012, respectively. The total length of postal routes reached 11.93 million kilometers, twice that of 2012.  A rapid transportation network mainly consisting of high-speed railways, expressways, and civil aviation routes is formed. In 2021, the operating length of China's high-speed railways reached 40,000 kilometers, 4.3 times that of 2012, covering more than 95% of cities with a population of more than one million; the length of highways in operation reached 169,000 kilometers, 1.8 times that of 2012, covering more than 98% of cities with a population of more than 200,000; there were 248 airports with regular flights, 68 more than in 2012, covering about 92% of prefecture-level cities.

Major breakthroughs have been made in equipment technology. China's technologies in complete set are taking a lead in the world including cross-sea bridges and tunnels, deep-water navigation channels, high-speed railways, and automated terminals, and super-large transportation projects have been completed and put in operation such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Beijing Daxing International Airport, Shanghai Yangshan Port automated terminals, and Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway. "Fuxing" EMUs, C919 large passenger aircraft and other domestic transportation equipment have become new symbols of China's transportation equipment technical capabilities, creating favorable conditions for the rapid development of transportation. In 2021, China's commercial freight volume reached 53 billion tons, and passenger volume reached 8.3 billion person-times, with an average of 150 million tons of goods and 22.74 million person-times every day; the container throughput reached 282.72 million TEUs, and 7 out of the global top 10 ports of throughput containers are located in China; the mail business volume reached 108.3 billion, with an AAGR of 38.7% from 2013 to 2021, ranking first in the world for eight consecutive years since 2014; the passenger turnover of railways and civil aviation accounted for 81.5% of the commercial passenger turnover, 37.0 percentage points higher than in 2012. The accessibility and security of transportation services have been significantly enhanced.

(II) A historic leap in communication technology and remarkable results in communication network construction

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has accelerated the construction of a new generation of high-speed, mobile, and secure information infrastructure, and built the world's largest optical fiber network and 4G and 5G networks. By the end of 2021, the total length of national optical cable lines reached 54.81 million kilometers, and the number of Internet broadband access ports reached 1.02 billion, which are 3.7 times and 3.2 times that of 2012, respectively. By the end of 2021, the proportion of China's optical fiber access (FTTH/0) ports for Internet connection increased from 22.7% at the end of 2012 to 94.3%, and the proportion of 4G base stations increased from 24.2% in 2014 to 59.2%, achieving larger coverage in urban areas. Moreover, information and communication technology has continued to make breakthroughs in 5G, high-end optoelectronics, integrated circuit chips and other fields, and China's independent innovation capabilities have significantly improved. After the launch of 5G for commercial use in 2019, the construction of 5G network has been advancing rapidly. By the end of 2021, China has built and opened a total of 1.425 million 5G base stations which accounting for 14.3% of the total base stations in China and more than 60% of the world's 5G base stations. The number of 5G mobile phone users reached 355 million, and the number of 5G mobile terminals reached 520 million. The 5G network has covered all prefecture-level cities, more than 98% of county towns, and 80% of townships across the country.

II. Enhancement of Coordinated Construction with a More Balanced Transportation and Communication Pattern

(I) Coordinated development of service areas and a more balanced infrastructure pattern

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has made overall plans to promote the construction of transportation and communication infrastructure, continuously strengthened its advantages, made up for its weaknesses, and strengthened inter-regional infrastructure interconnection, providing important support for the construction of a high-quality development of regional economic pattern. Focusing on major regional strategies such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, full play is given to the comprehensive effect of the "hub + channel" of key urban agglomerations to promote the efficient flow of economic factors. The comprehensive transportation corridor of the Yangtze River Economic Belt based on the golden waterway of the Yangtze River continues to improve; the integrated transportation network connects the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, and a one-hour traffic circle in the core area and a 1.5-hour traffic circle between adjacent cities are basically formed; The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and the Second Humen Bridge were completed and opened to traffic. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area provides one-hour accessibility to major cities within the area, and a radial network connecting Eastern China, Central and Southern China, and Southwestern China to the outside has initially formed. The development of high-speed railways, highways, and newly-built airport facilities in the Central and Western China continues to accelerate. Transportation projects such as the Baoji-Lanzhou High-speed Railway, the Chengdu-Ya'an section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, the Beijing–Urumqi Expressway, and the Shantou–Kunming Expressway have been put into operation one after another, which strengthens the relatively backward transportation in Western China and promotes Central China's accessibility to major transportation channels in other regions. From 2013 to 2021, 53,000 kilometers of expressways were newly built in Central and Western China [1], accounting for 73.0% of the country's newly built expressway length; 19,000 kilometers of high-speed railways were newly built, accounting for 60.5% of the country's newly built high-speed railway length; 57 transport airports were relocated and rebuilt, accounting for 72.2% of all newly built and relocated airports.

(II) Contributing to poverty alleviation and continuously strengthening the construction of urban and rural service networks

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the "Well-built Rural Roads Subject to Good Administration, Maintenance and Operation", "Express Delivery to the Village", and the pilot program of universal telecommunications services have been promoted in depth, further narrowing the gap between urban and rural transportation, post and telecommunications infrastructure, and laying the foundation for comprehensive poverty alleviation and continuous promotion of rural revitalization established a solid foundation. By the end of 2021, the total length of rural roads reached 4.466 million kilometers, and the total number of rural broadband users reached 158 million, which is 1.2 times and 2.9 times that of the end of 2012, with an AAGR of 2.3% and 16.2% respectively; by the end of 2021, the coverage rate remains at 100%, the proportion of "Express Delivery to the Village" exceeds 80%, 100% of qualified towns and administrative villages are connected to passenger vehicles, 100% of eligible towns and administrative villages are accessible to hardened roads, and the proportion of national administrative villages is connected to optical fiber and 4G The Internet penetration rate in rural areas reached 57.6%, an increase of 33.4 percentage points over 2012. The accessibility of rural transportation infrastructure has been significantly improved, the level of informatization has made great progress, and the connection between urban and rural areas and rural areas has become closer. The construction of urban public transportation system and 5G informatization is accelerating. By the end of 2021, 51 cities will open and operate urban rail transit lines, with an operating length of 8,736 kilometers; the coverage rate of bus stops within 500 meters for cities with a population of more than one million is about 100%; 5G networks have covered all prefecture-level cities and more than 98% of counties across the country urban areas and 80% of townships.

III. The Advancement of Green Transition, with Promising Progress in the Low-carbon Development of Transportation and Communication

(I) Vigorously developing multimodal transport with orderly adjustment of transport structure

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, supply-side structural reforms in transportation have been continuously deepened, the construction of multimodal transport demonstration projects has been implemented in depth, and the development of multimodal transport has been rapidly improved. Since 2015, China has successively organized and implemented 70 multimodal transport demonstration projects, and explored advanced transport operation modes such as roll-on and roll-off transport, piggyback transport, drop-and-pull transport, and "one order system" for multimodal transport. The transportation of bulk cargo and containers has been carried out in an orderly manner, with the transportation structure continuously adjusted and optimized. At the end of 2021, the freight volume of railways and waterways together accounted for 24.9% of the freight volumes of the four major modes of transportation including railways, highways, waterways and civil aviation, an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared with the end of 2012; in 2021, the volume of rail-water combined transport port containers reached 7.54 million TEUs, with an AAGR of more than 18% from 2018 to 2021.

(II) Continuous promotion of the application of new energy with obvious effect of energy saving and carbon reduction

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has actively promoted the application of new energy and clean energy in transportation, and the advocate of green transportation has accelerated its integration into the development of the industry. The application of clean energy transportation equipment such as electric power and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in urban public transportation, urban material distribution, railway transportation, water transportation and other industries is accelerated. By the end of 2020, the number of urban buses, taxis and new energy vehicles for urban logistics reached 466,000, 132,000 and 430,000 respectively; there were more than 290 LNG-powered ships and over 2,000 LNG-powered container trucks; about 7,500 berths were equipped with electricity facilities nationwide, and there were more than 10,000 charging piles in expressway service areas. In 2021, there reached 14,000 electric locomotives for railways across the country, with electrification rate of 64.0%, an increase of 15.1 percentage points over 2012. With the energy consumption structure of the industry improved significantly, the proportion of clean energy consumption has increased significantly. As of the end of 2020, the terminal energy consumption of the transportation, warehousing and postal industries reached 380.33 million tons of standard coal, of which the total consumption of electricity and natural gas accounted for 17.3%, an increase of 7.6 percentage points from 2012.

(III) Progress in the green governance of express packaging, with initial achievements in circular development

With the successive promulgation of documents such as Guidelines for Green Packaging in the Express Industry (for Trial Implementation), Green Packaging Specifications for Express Mails, Opinions on Accelerating the Green Transformation of Express Packaging since the 18th CPC National Congress, great progress has been seen in green, reduced and recyclable express packaging. Express delivery companies are actively exploring green transformation, promoting electronic waybills, recyclable boxes, slimming tapes below 45 mm, degradable plastic packaging bags, etc., and developing green packaging such as ink-free printed cartons, which has significantly improved the green development in the industry. In 2021, express electronic waybills and recirculating transfer bags have basically achieved full coverage of the industry, the volume of recyclable express boxes reached 6.3 million, the rate of e-commerce express without repackaging reached 80.5%, and 36,000 new outlets of recycling facilities for discarded items were established.

IV. Keeping Open for Cooperation with Sustainable Support of Transportation and Communication Strategies

(I) Strengthening infrastructure cooperation and construction to facilitate the interconnection of the "Belt and Road"

Since the "Belt and Road" Initiative was put forward in 2013, China has continued to promote the interconnection of the "Belt and Road" transportation and communication infrastructure, supported the construction of key transportation channels and information infrastructure in countries along the route, and joined hands with related countries to promote the integrated construction of the four major areas of land, sea, sky and network. Since 2013, many landmark projects of the "Belt and Road" with China’s participation have been put into operation. In terms of railways, Chinese enterprises have participated in the construction of railways such as the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, the China-Laos Railway, and the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train Project in Pakistan; in terms of highway and bridge construction, there are cooperative projects like Peshawar-Karachi Motorway, Karakoram Highway Phase II, Kunming - Bangkok Road, China-Russia Expressway Bridge, Tongjiang Railway Bridge; in terms of port construction, China participated in the construction and operation of overseas ports such as Port of Piraeus in Greece, Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka, and Port of Gwadar in Pakistan; in terms of informatization construction, China actively promotes the construction of digital transportation corridors, cross-border optical cable information channels, and China-ASEAN information ports. The interconnection of key infrastructures such as transportation and communication play an important role in the economic development of countries along the “Belt and Road”.

(II) Continuous expansion of international logistics channels to ensure the safety and stability of circulation links

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has actively participated in the global governance of transportation, planned and built new international logistics channels such as the Western Land-Sea New Corridor and the "Belt and Road" Transport Channel, which has greatly improved the efficiency of international logistics. With the joint construction of the Belt and Road as a cooperation platform, China has signed 22 international road transport facilitation agreements with 19 countries; 70 bilateral and regional maritime transport agreements with 66 countries and regions, providing maritime services to all coastal countries along the Belt and Road; bilateral intergovernmental agreements on air transport with 100 countries and regional air transport agreements with ASEAN and the European Union; and postal cooperation agreements with 22 countries under the establishment of an international railway cooperation mechanism for China Railway Express to Europe, realizing regular outbound mail traffic of China Railway Express. By the end of 2021, a total of 49,000 China-Europe freight trains have run on 78 routes reaching more than 180 cities in 23 European countries. By the end of 2021, a total of 1.1 million TEUs of container goods had been transported by rail-sea combined train on the new western land-sea corridor delivered since its opening in 2017, and the volume in 2021 is 187 times that of 2017. After the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, the stable operation of China-Europe freight trains and other logistics channels has ensured the stability and smooth flow of domestic and international logistics supply chains.

V. Focus on Shared Development, and Full Improvement of Quality and Effectiveness of Transportation and Communication Services

(I) Vigorously developing new forms and models of business to give people a stronger sense of fulfillment

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, new business forms and models such as online freight transportation, online car-hailing, bike-sharing and car-sharing have developed rapidly, boarding the express train of development in the Internet era. By the end of 2021, there were 1,968 online freight platform enterprises in China, integrating the transport capacity of 3.6 million scattered trucks with 3.9 million drivers, exploring innovative operation modes of urban and rural distribution, multimodal transport, route integration, drop and pull transport, cold chain logistics and other areas while improving transport efficiency; and 258 car-hailing platform companies have been licensed to operate in more than 300 cities in China, with an average daily order volume of about 23 million. By the end of 2020, a total of 19.45 million shared bikes had been put into service in more than 360 cities, with the average daily orders surpassing 45.7 million; and more than 50 car-sharing rental companies have operated in more than 180 cities, with more than 200,000 car-sharing vehicles being put into use. "Internet Plus Transport" has significantly improved the quantity and quality of transportation supplies. At the same time, the speeding application of new technologies such as facial recognition check-in at railway stations, paperless boarding at airports, contactless delivery and drone delivery have provided great convenience for people's work and daily life. In 2021, all airports nationwide were capable of providing their passengers with paperless and convenient boarding service for domestic flights, all high-speed and intercity railway stations allowed passengers to use electronic tickets, drones "Express Delivery to the Village" started a trial in rural China, and unmanned delivery vehicles were put into service, effectively easing the pressure of terminal delivery.

(II) Further advancement of the reform of "streamlining administration, delegating power, strengthening regulation, and improving services", with more affordable and accessible services for the public

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have deepened the reforms in transport, posts and telecommunications, accelerated the popularity of the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system, and benefited thousands of households with policies such as boosting Internet speed and reducing fees. At the end of 2021, basically all the national highway toll stations were connected to ETC system, all the 487 highway toll stations at provincial borders in 29 provinces connected to the Internet were cancelled, Freight car charges were changed from weight charges to the internationally accepted charges according to the number of axles, and the application of ETC and fast passage have achieved initial results. Besides, the Beijing Daxing International Airport, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport and other demonstration projects of integrated passenger transport hubs have been completed and put into operation, enabling seamless connection between high-speed rail, urban passenger transport, rail transit, civil aviation and taxis, making travel more convenient and comfortable for residents. Before the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the number of passengers on the bullet trains accounted for about 70 percent of the total number of railway passengers, greatly improving the operation efficiency. With the accelerated spread of 4G and 5G networks, boosting network speed and reducing fees have attracted increasing attention, and have been included in the government work report for six consecutive years. Since 2015, China has cancelled mobile rates for domestic roaming and long-distance calls and traffic "roaming" charges, reduced the average rates of fixed broadband per unit of bandwidth and mobile broadband per unit of traffic by over 95 percent, reduced the average rate of enterprise broadband and dedicated line per unit of bandwidth by more than 70%, benefited more than 1 billion users annually and accumulatively saved users more than RMB 700 billion with various fee reduction measures. In 2021, the average download speed of fixed broadband was 62.55Mbit/s, an increase of 16.7 times compared with 2013; and the average download speed of mobile broadband is 59.34Mbit/s, an increase of 4.0 times compared with 2016. The Internet speed has increased significantly, providing support for improving the quality of people's life and saving enterprises costs and increasing their performance.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the transport and postal and communications industries have fully implemented the new development philosophy, greatly improved their overall capacity, service quality, operational efficiency and development quality, shown strong resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and played an important role in ensuring supply and stabilizing the chain and promoting the resumption of work and production. Looking forward to the future, with the continuous improvement of China's strength in transportation, cyberspace and digital development, the transportation and postal and communication industries will continue to meet the people's ever-growing needs for a better life and provide strategic support for building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.

Note:

[1] The central and western regions include Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang.