China in a Decade: Transportation and communications industry taking giant leaps forward under new development concept

By Zhang Zhou

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the transportation, postal and telecommunications industry has made remarkable achievements, with improved infrastructure networks, new technologies and business models, and better service qualities effectively underpinning the overall growth of China’s economy.

From 2013 to 2021, the industry had grown by 6.9% annually in added value, further highlighting its fundamental, pioneering and strategic role in national economy and laying a solid foundation for China’s socialist modernization drive and the realization of the second century goal.

I. Innovation-driven development leading to better traffic and communications network

1. Strengthened investment with ever-improving transportation network A transportation network centering on high-speed railways, highways and civil aviation has quickly taken shape.

In 2021, the mileage of high-speed railways in China reached 40,000 km, 4.3 times that of 2012, covering more than 95% of cities with a population of over 1 million; 169,000 km of highways were put into operation, 1.8 times that of 2012, covering more than 98% of cities with a population of over 200,000; 248 airports were put into use, 68 more than in 2012, covering about 92% of prefecture-level cities.

2. Historic leap in telecommunications technology and remarkable achievement in telecommunications 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 fiber-optic 4G and 5G networks. As of end 2021, the total length of fiber-optic cables nationwide had reached 54.81 million km and the number of internet access ports had reached 1.02 billion, 3.7 times and 3.2 times of that of 2012 respectively.

As of end 2021, a total of 1.425 million 5G base stations had been built and opened in China, accounting for 14.3% of all base stations in China; and China’s 5G base stations had accounted for more than 60% of global total, with 355 million 5G mobile phone users, and 520 million 5G mobile phone terminals. Today, 5G networks have covered all prefecture-level urban areas, more than 98% of counties and 80% of townships and villages nationwide.

II. Coordinated construction leading to a balanced industrial layout

1. A balanced infrastructure layout serving coordinated regional development

From 2013 to 2021, 53,000 km of highways were added in the central and western regions, accounting for 73.0% of new highway mileage nationwide; 19,000 km of high-speed rail were added, accounting for 60.5% of the new high-speed rail mileage nationwide; 57 airports were newly built, accounting for 72.2% of all the newly constructed airports.

2. The transportation and telecommunications industry empowering poverty alleviation

At the end of 2021, the total mileage of rural roads reached 4.466 million km, and rural broadband internet users reached 158 million, 1.2 times and 2.9 times that of the end of 2012, with an average annual growth of 2.3% and 16.2% respectively; At the end of 2021, all townships in China had a postal station, with delivery services covering 80% of all villages. Where conditions allowed, all townships and villagers were connected by hardened roads with public bus services. More than 99% of villages had access to optical fiber and 4G network, and internet penetration in rural areas reached 57.6%, up 33.4% against 2012.

III. Open cooperation reinforcing strategic role of the industry

1. Strengthened cooperation empowering the “Belt and Road Initiative”

Since the “Belt and Road Initiative” was put forward in 2013, China has vigorously promoted connectivity with “Belt and Road” countries, building transport corridors and IT infrastructure, and creating an interconnectivity layout on land and sea, in the air, and on the web.

2. Expanded global logistics channels ensuring the stability of circulation chain

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has actively participated in the global governance of transport and built new logistics corridors such as the “New Land and Sea Corridor in China’s West” and the BRI transport corridor, which have greatly improved the efficiency of global logistics.

On the cooperation platform of BRI, China has signed 22 international road transport facilitation agreements with 19 countries, 70 bilateral and regional maritime transport agreements with 66 countries and regions, with maritime transport services covering all coastal countries along the route.

Apart from signing intergovernmental air transport agreements with 100 countries, China has also signed regional air transport agreements with ASEAN and the European Union. The railway cooperation mechanism “China-Europe Express Train” was put into operation. China also signed postal agreements with 22 countries, and regularized the mail services via the China-Europe Express Train.

As of end 2021, the China-Europe Express Train had been operated 49,000 times, with 78 routes reaching more than 180 cities in 23 European countries. From the start of the “New Land and Sea Corridor in China’s West” in 2017 to the end of 2021, a total of 1.1 million TEU of containers had been transported, with the freight in 2021 reaching 187 times that of 2017. Since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, the China-Europe Express Train has been running smoothly, stabilizing the logistics and and supply chains both at home and globally.