On April 10th, the Information Office of Sichuan Provincial People’s Government held a news conference in Chengdu to make public the Development Plan on Transportation of the 13th Five-year Plan Period. Sichuan will establish an infrastructure network composed of multiple means of transportation, and has for the first time put forward the idea of forging a comprehensive traffic corridor including eight channels on land and three maritime channels.
The Plan proposes that a modern comprehensive transportation system with high connectivity, full equipment, and security and effectiveness will be built up by 2030, fostering a comprehensive transportation organism with one network, two systems, and three platforms.
One network refers to the infrastructure network composed of multiple means of transportation, including the comprehensive traffic corridor of eight channels on land and three maritime channels, high-speed artery system, general artery system, basic transportation network in urban and rural areas, pivot station system as well as transportation system for connectivity and transformation. The comprehensive traffic corridor including eight channels on land and three maritime channels stands as the basic carrier in serving the One Belt One Road Initiative and the development strategy in Yangtze River Economic Belt. The eight channels on land, extending from Chengdu, cover eight regions and areas involving Beijing, Tianjin, Hubei Province, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Chongqing, Lanzhou-Xi’ning-Golmud, Tibet, and ASEAN, connecting the six economic corridors along One Belt One Road Initiative. The three maritime channels are the collection and distribution passages of the main ports of Yangtze River as well as the important exporting aisles in Guanzhong-Tianshui and the northwest of Yunnan Province. Two Systems stand for the safe and convenient passenger transportation system and the intensive and efficient logistics transportation system.
Three platforms include transportation information service platform, security platform, and management platform.
It is disclosed in the news conference that during the 13th Five-year Plan period, Sichuan will accelerate the construction of traffic hubs in western China to ensure its position as a strong transportation province, so as to further lay the foundation for establishing a unblocked, safe, efficient and green modern comprehensive transportation system. The development of transportation during the period should focus on full integration in the new phase of regional development in China, effective support for the three development strategies of Sichuan, and deep implementation of targeted poverty alleviation through the development of transportation with emphasis on upgrading the structure, transforming the driver, tackling the problem, bridging the gap in weak areas and making breakthroughs, so as to bring the fundamental, leading, and serving role of transportation in serving national economic and social development into full play.
According to the Plan, four key tasks have been set up for the development of transportation in the period, namely, perfecting the infrastructure network, optimizing transportation service system, consolidating the supporting platforms, and promoting the green development of transportation. By 2020, a modern comprehensive transportation system and a transportation hub in western China should be established. The operation length of railways reaches 6,000 kilometers, and the railways for a speed of 200 km per hour cover 2,100 kilometers; the operation length of expressways accounts for 8,000 kilometers; the number of entrance and exit passages in Sichuan achieves 24; the rate of building hardened road in institutional villages rockets up to 100%; the length of waterways ranking Ⅳ-level or above succeeds 1,600 kilometers; the port handling capacity reaches 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units; the number of civil airports numbers 17, covering 60% counties, cities, and districts within 50 kilometers away from the locations.
The plan stipulates that the investment is projected to reach 1,020 billion yuan, among which, 230 billion yuan will be invested in railways, 480 billion in highways, 20 billion in water transport, 90 billion in civil aviation, and 210 billion in urban rail transit.
