Construction of transport infrastructure has continued in China in recent years, despite Covid headwinds, contributing to stabilizing the economy in the short term. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Transport, China’s fixed asset investment in transportation projects has continued to grow rapidly in the past 10 years, with a total investment of CNY3.6 trillion in 2021, an increase of more than 50% compared to some CNY2.05 trillion in 2011. From January to November 2022, China completed CNY3.5 trillion of fixed asset investment in transportation, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%.
Many provincial regions nationwide maintained strong efforts in the sector this year, according to transportation investment plans and construction tasks revealed by local transport authorities. Zhejiang province said in a plan in January that it will set a higher growth target for fixed asset investment this year than that for the overall economy, and planned to invest over CNY1 trillion in some 1,000 major projects, with a first batch of 791, including 540 ongoing ones and 251 newly launched ones. Investment in the first batch of projects reaches CNY833.7 billion.
One such project is the Maguling tunnel on the Hangzhou-Wenzhou High-speed Railway, completing all tunneling work on the Yongjia section of the railway. The full line is expected to open for traffic by June 2024. The tunnel has a total length of 6.09 kilometers and is designed for bullet trains running at 350 kilometers per hour. Another milestone project on the Yongjia section, the 76-m high Doumen Creek Bridge was finished on April 1.
The Hangzhou-Wenzhou High-speed Railway is a vital rail link in the Yangtze River Delta region and will be the fastest way for passengers traveling between the cities of Hangzhou, Jinhua, Yiwu, and Wenzhou in Zhejiang. Upon completion, the railway will connect several tourist sites in these cities and promote the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Delta region. The high-speed railway will greatly improve the regional transportation network and promote the development of the region’s economy and tourism industry, the China Daily reports.
