Since the early 1990s, China's economy has moved from a centrally planned environment to one that is more commercialized and competitive; the degree of openness has increased; patterns of transport demand have changed; passenger and freight traffic have grown rapidly, putting heavy demands on infrastructure, with a big role in the private sector. In the past, China underinvested in roads, but since the mid-1990s, with a rapid increase in the rate of road construction, it has become one of the fastest countries in building its road network. By the end of 2004 the total road network extended roughly 1,870,661 km, with 34,288 km of expressways and about 600,584 km of Class I through III highways. With its complementary railway and waterway networks, China has developed one of the most diverse transportation networks in the world. | Projects | Data | Maps | | |  |
Roads and Highways China has, in the past, underinvested in roads; its road network still ranks among the sparsest in the world relative to geographic area and population. China’s road network in 2002 extended roughly 1.76 million km, with some 25,130 km of expressways and about 27,468 km of other high-grade highways in operation. 
Aerial View of Expressway Project
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In the late 1990s, governments at all levels embarked on major highway investment programs. At the core was the National Trunk Highway System, which consists of building expressways to link all the major cities with each other, and especially ports. This system is the backbone, and most important element of, the national transportation network. The National Trunk Highway System was originally to be a 35,000 km network composed of 12 major highways. There are five north-south corridors: Beijing-Fuzhou, Beijing-Zhuhai, Chongqing-Zhanjiang, Erlianhaote-Hekou, and Tongjiang-Sanya; and seven east-west corridors: Dandong-Lhasa, Hengyang-Kunming, Lianyungang-Huoerguosi, Qingdao-Yinchuan, Shanghai-Chengdu, Shanghai-Ruili, and Suifenhe-Manzhouli. With an estimated cost of US$150 billion, the National Trunk Highway System will connect all provincial capitals and cities with populations exceeding 500,000 inhabitants (100 major cities). By the end of 2004, roughly 34,288 km, or 97 percent of the total length, was completed.  | China Transport Infrastructure (1.7mb pdf) |
In December 2004, the Chinese government approved an expanded National Trunk Highway System, or the “7918 Highway Network.” The plan to build 7 capital radials, 9 north-south major highways and 18 east-west corridors, totaling some 85,000 km of high-grade expressways, is expected to be completed in 2020. The “7918 Highway Network” was designed to reach more than 1 billion people in China by connecting all provincial capitals and large urban centers of more than 500,000 inhabitants with cities of more than 200,000 inhabitants. The network location intends to allow people in eastern areas to access an expressway within half an hour, the central provinces within an hour, and the western areas within two hours. In addition, it will improve communications between economically developed areas, such as the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas in the east and the midwest and northeast areas. It will also enhance the connections with the west, and will promote the economic growth of central and southeastern provinces, including Jiangxi. Back to top Urban Transport Chinese cities are experiencing rapid growth as workers migrate from rural to urban areas. The substantial growth of manufacturing and consumer-based industries has also sped up the process of urbanization. In the early 80s, there were only 28 cities with over 1 million people, but by 2002 these had increased to 36, of which 9 are metropolitan areas with a population of more than 2 million. The trend of urban expansion is continuing characterized by the expansion of the urban boundary, the creation of large regional cities, and the development of suburban areas. 
Most large and medium cities in China are already facing serious traffic congestion problems generated by crowded and disordered traffic and in the last 10 years, almost all large cities have accorded a high priority to dealing with traffic congestion. Significant capital investment has been made to expand the capacity of transport infrastructure, especially the street network. The amounts of resources mobilized over a short period of time are unmatched by most developing cities around the world. The urban transport investment in Beijing, for instance, accounted for five percent of the municipality's GDP, a very high rate by world standards. Modern traffic management techniques including bus priority schemes are increasingly being adopted. A few cities (e.g. Kunming, Shijiazhuang, Beijing, and Hangzhou ) have started to develop, some with initial success, a bus rapid transit system. Modern metros are operating in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin, and Shenzhen. All major cities have established motor vehicle inspection and maintenance programs. While most cities have adopted Euro-II emission standards, a few are moving to Euro-III. All these demonstrate that the large cities are indeed capable of resource mobilization and action implementation. However, sustainable outcomes remain elusive for a majority of the cities and their urban residents. Most of the focus of local governments has been on investment, particularly the construction of new roads and metros. Despite rapid growth in private cars, the majority of urban households are car-less and likely to remain so for the next 10-15 years. In many cases their mobility needs have been under-served by the established practice that commits much of the available resources to meeting the demand for auto-mobility. Where there has been a focus on public transport, it has been almost exclusively on the development of metro systems, with inadequate attention paid on improving the bus systems which will likely remain the mainstay of the majority. The impact of motorization, urban spatial growth and a focus on automobility has been particularly sever on pedestrians and bicyclists who have seen decreased levels of mobility, access and safety. It is becoming increasingly clear that a comprehensive approach to urban transport is required which balances transport infrastructure construction with transport policy measures. Cities need to revise their urban transport practice to address a wide range of interrelated issues, including the needs of pedestrians, motorization, motor vehicle pollution, traffic management and safety, a sustainable role for bicycles, mass rapid transit, public transit reform, the role of the private sector, transport pricing, and urban transport planning. In line with its "People First" development strategy and the desire to create a socially harmonious society, the national government has taken several actions in this respect in recent years. The National Road Safety Law, promulgated in 2004 and now under implementation, explicitly values safety over mobility, and focuses especially on the most vulnerable road users; pedestrians and cyclists involved in traffic accidents are considered, by default, victims needing redress. Similarly, the State Council (via Opinion #46 in October 2005), the Ministry of Construction, as well as the highest levels of Chinese leadership, have promoted the provision of priority to public transport in cities in official documents and public announcements. The challenge in the coming years is now is for local governments, who are responsible for operationalizing these policies in China's decentralized operating environment, to successfully implement these priorities in practice. Back to top Rural Transport 
The geography of China poses great obstacles to providing basic road access throughout the country, particularly in inner and low-income provinces. Although the role of transport access in integrating the national economy, stimulating growth in remote areas, and ensuring the basic mobility needs of the poor has been emphasized, providing this access is an enormous task that requires significant public resources. Back to top Railways By the end of 2000, China’s rail system reached 68,000 km. The nation constructed 5,600 km of new rail during the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000), representing an 8 percent increase over the five-year period. During this time, US$29 billion was invested in railway infrastructure construction--28 percent more than during the Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-95), which itself had set records for railway investment. The nation’s Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-05) expanded the size of the rail network, speeding up railway construction in western China and adding capacity in the main corridors of the eastern network--notably to link Beijing and Shanghai. By 2005, the length of the national railway had reached 75,000 km; increasing rail in western regions by more than 2,000 km. The Chinese government has adopted strategic goals for the national railway system, to make it more responsive to market needs. The railway is spinning off non transport subsidiaries as independent companies, and in certain regions has initiated pilot operations where passenger services are set up as profit centers separate from freight. Back to top Inland Waterways  China has large navigable rivers--especially in central and southern China--that link many of its major cities. Moreover China’s geography and the location of its population are exceptionally favorable to inland water transport. These features enable inland water transport to claim a large share of China’s inland transport market; roughly 10 percent of freight in tons and, because of the more efficient use of existing waterways, up 27 percent of the freight ton-km.
Many rivers carry large volumes of bulk cargo that are hauled from rural to urban areas for processing. On the rivers' upper sections, limited water depth prevents safe year-round access by vessels with capacity of more than 100 tons. The navigation channels on these rivers are in some instances being deepened enough to enable much larger vessels to reach far upstream. The advantage of that inland water transport is that it has less of an impact on the environment than rail or road transport. Accordingly, to ease the pressure of demand for new roads and improved railways, the government has recently increased investment in waterways to deepen navigation channels and upgrade navigational aids. Back to top Ports and Shipping 
Maritime port infrastructure tends to be inefficient (clearance times vary from three days to a month, mostly caused by documentation, customs and tax procedures), though it is catching up under a major program of investment in berths, handling equipments and storage and a streamlining of procedures. Large enterprises, including COSCO Sinotrans and China Shipping, dominate this sector. Many, including these two, are also among China’s largest providers of domestic transport services, having established agreements with domestic operators – road transport enterprises, the railways and inland waterway companies in the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas – to offer door-to-door services. APL, Maersk-Sealand and P&O have done the same in developing their own intermodal logistics networks linked with warehousing and distribution services. Back to top Air Transport  Although central responsibility for airport development remains with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, China’s provinces are increasingly involved in detailed planning, construction, operation, and financing.
The Ninth Five-Year Plan aviation policy emphasized safety and regular quality service. To achieve this, substantial additions to capacity are being built at international airports in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, as well as in many provincial capital airports, and improvements in facilities for airport management, flight control, fuel supply and maintenance are under way. Both Beijing and Hong Kong have experienced high growth rates, despite the opening of competing airports in Macau, Zhuhai, and Guangzhou, and massive investment in upgrading freight facilities at Shanghai. Reports:  Road Infrastructure Management for Three Cities in China (1.4mb pdf)
HIV/AIDS - Getting Results: Success on the Road in China (410kb pdf); Chinese (434kb pdf)
Presentations: Urban Transport in China (1mb pdf)
Bicycle User Survey in Fushun China (3.3mb pdf)
A Life of Walking: Poverty and Transport in Wuhan Province, China (285kb pdf)
Building Institutions for Sustainable Urban Transport (189kb pdf)
More Information:
 Country Partnership Strategy
Millennium Development Goals
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