On December 10, a reporter learned from the Linfen Municipal Transport Bureau that the Linfen Yellow River Poverty-Alleviation Tourism Highway construction project, a flagship transport poverty-alleviation project and Yellow River tourism upgrading project that Linfen is building with full effort, is progressing smoothly. At present, the construction units for the pilot section have fully moved in, land acquisition and demolition have basically been completed, and the section is expected to be completed and opened to traffic in August 2018. The overall project will be fully completed and put into use by the end of 2019.

　　The construction of the Yellow River Poverty-Alleviation Tourism Highway is a flagship transport poverty-alleviation project and Yellow River tourism upgrading project that Linfen is building with full effort in accordance with the requirements of the provincial Party committee and provincial government to "fight the battle against targeted poverty alleviation" and "do a good job in the major article of Yellow River tourism," and the strategic vision of the Linfen municipal Party committee and municipal government to "optimize the overall tourism environment, expand the overall tourism market, build the overall tourism pattern, and develop the overall tourism industry."

　　In planning the Linfen Yellow River Poverty-Alleviation Tourism Highway, the concept of "respecting nature and protecting ecology" has been upheld, with the theme of "Soul of the Winding Yellow River, Scenic Line of the Canyon," integrating "transport + tourism + poverty alleviation + culture + Internet of Things." According to the plan, the project starts in Qianbutou Village, Nanzhuang Township, Yonghe County in the north and ends at the Xianghan Yellow River Bridge in Xiangning County in the south, involving 56 townships, 752 administrative villages, and a population of 850,000. It passes through Yonghe, Daning, Jixian, and Xiangning counties and radiates to Xixian, Fenxi, and Puxian counties. The main line runs along the east bank of the Yellow River, with a total length of 260 kilometers; 11 branch lines connect it to scenic spots throughout the counties, with a total branch length of 196.2 kilometers; scenic spots are connected by linking lines with additional cycling routes, totaling about 208.8 kilometers, for a combined total mileage of 665 kilometers. The total project investment is RMB 7.68 billion. The construction period is two years; the 260-kilometer main line is expected to be completed next year, and the project will be fully completed and put into use by the end of 2019.

　　Once completed, the Yellow River Poverty-Alleviation Tourism Highway will connect more than 40 famous scenic spots along the Yellow River in Linfen, including Qiankun Bay, the Red Army Eastern Expedition Memorial Hall, Daning Erlang Mountain, Jixian Renzu Mountain, Hukou Waterfall, and Xiangning Yunqiu Mountain, driving major development of tourism along the Yellow River. Preliminary estimates indicate that within 3-5 years, 5,000 new tourism jobs can be created, driving employment for more than 20,000 people, and the area along the Yellow River will be promoted as a national-level tourism innovation zone and a 100-billion-level green ecological tourism industry belt. It is expected that by 2020, 200 poor villages can be supported to shake off poverty and become prosperous through tourism development, benefiting more than 100,000 poor people along the route.

　　The Linfen Yellow River Poverty-Alleviation Tourism Highway project is being built under a "PPP + 30-year franchise" model, with financing from multiple sources through a method in which "the provincial finance provides interest subsidies, the municipal finance provides capital, and the county finance provides the backstop," and construction is implemented county by county and section by section. After completion, in accordance with the principle of "whoever benefits pays," it is proposed that county-level governments pay vehicle tolls to cover highway usage fees.