High-speed rail network to spread net wider

According to the plan, the high-speed rail network will cover more than 80 percent of big cities that have a population of over 1 million. Transport network of railway, highways and airlines will cover cities with permanent population of more than 200,000 km.

The number of such big cities was 142 in 2014, according to the statistics released by the Information Office of the State Council on March 19 that year. As cities have grown over the years, it means the high-speed rail network will reach more than 113 big and mega cities by 2020.

By 2016, the length of the network had reached 20,000 km.

Over 50 new airports planned

By 2020, China will have 260 airports, with more than 50 new ones.

World-class airport clusters will be built in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. International airlines hubs will be promoted in northeastern Harbin, southern Shenzhen, southwestern Kunming, Chengdu and Chongqing, northwestern Xi’an and Urumqi.

Among the key airport projects to be built, more than 32 will be located in cities that are currently not served by any airline.

Road network, highways to increase

According to the plan, China will have a total road network of 4.58 million km, an increase of 572,000 km from current length. The construction of 36 highways will be accelerated and the length of highways will be increased by 22,000 km.

The government plans to increase the use of electronic toll collection on highways, with 50 percent of highway coaches added to the system, a 20 percentage point increase compared with 2015.

150 modern transport hubs to be built

By 2020, 150 modern transport hubs with comprehensive functions will be built across the country to make transfers more convenient for passengers.

The government aims to double urban rail transit system compared with 2015, reaching 3,300 km in total length. Transport network in mega cities will be optimized and efforts will be made in forging networks in cities with permanent population of 3 million.