On December 12, Yibin City held a centralized groundbreaking ceremony for projects in the fourth quarter of 2017. A total of 115 projects broke ground, with a total investment of 63.49 billion yuan, including 41 infrastructure construction projects with a total investment of 35.3 billion yuan; 45 industrial development projects with a total investment of 16.89 billion yuan; 22 livelihood and social undertaking projects with a total investment of 9.18 billion yuan; and 7 real estate and other projects with a total investment of 2.12 billion yuan. Among them, the much-anticipated Zigong-Yibin section of the South Sichuan Intercity Railway officially started construction.
　　Five-year construction period, 82.4 km in length, 5 stations
　　According to reports, the South Sichuan Intercity Railway is a dedicated passenger railway connecting the four core cities of southern Sichuan: Neijiang, Zigong, Luzhou, and Yibin. It consists of the Neijiang-Zigong-Luzhou Line (Neijiang—Zigong—Luzhou) and the Zigong-Yibin Line (Zigong—Yibin). The Zigong-Yibin Line is 82.4 km long and has 5 stations along the route: Zigong East, Dengguan, Daguan, Lingang, and Yibin. It is designed for a speed of 350 km/h, with an estimated investment of 18.116 billion yuan, and an investment of more than 200 million yuan per kilometer of the main line. The construction period is 5 years. Among the key control projects is the Yibin Lingang Yangtze River Bridge. The bridge has a main span of 522 meters and a standard main bridge deck width of 63.9 meters. It adopts the technology of building a road-railway bridge on the same level and also accommodates Yibin's municipal traffic functions. Once completed, it will become China's first road-rail dual-purpose bridge built on the same level, as well as the world's widest road-rail dual-purpose bridge and the world's longest-span steel box girder road-rail dual-purpose cable-stayed bridge.
　　The Zigong-Yibin section of the South Sichuan Intercity Railway connects with the planned Chengdu-Tianfu International Airport-Zigong high-speed railway at Zigong and with the yet-to-be-built Chongqing-Kunming high-speed railway at Yibin. Once completed, it will form a 350 km/h Chengdu-Kunming high-speed railway linking Chengdu via Zigong and Yibin to the Kunming bridgehead. It is of great significance for promoting rapid transport links and economic development among the urban agglomerations along the route and for implementing the national "Belt and Road" development strategy.
　　A relevant official from Yibin City said that the construction of the Zigong-Yibin Line of the South Sichuan Intercity Railway will further improve and strengthen Yibin's high-speed railway network and consolidate Yibin's important position among the country's important regional railway hubs. It will not only promote the economic development of Yibin itself, but also strengthen Yibin's important position as an integration point of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Zone, the South Sichuan Economic Zone, and the Panxi Economic Zone.
　　Highlighting "dual-wheel" drive and vigorously carrying out "Project Year" activities
　　The projects launched this time highlight the characteristics of a "dual-wheel" drive, strong support from major projects, and further improvement in livelihood and social undertakings. Among them, there are 45 industrial projects with a total investment of 16.89 billion yuan, accounting for 39.1% and 26.6% of the projects launched this time, respectively, further consolidating and enhancing the development level of Yibin's traditional and emerging industries.
　　It is understood that since the beginning of this year, the Yibin Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have conscientiously implemented the work arrangements of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government for "Project Year," and in accordance with the requirements of "coordinating, attracting, striving for, supervising, and evaluating" projects, have vigorously carried out "Project Year" activities, effectively accelerated the progress of key project construction, and worked hard to expand effective investment and continue growth. From January to November, the 18 continued provincial key projects directly reported by Yibin City completed an investment of 5.37 billion yuan, exceeding the annual target ahead of schedule; 7 newly started provincial key projects, including the University Town Science and Innovation City and the Yanpingba Yangtze River Bridge and its connecting lines, achieved their start-of-construction targets. The first three categories of 208 municipal key projects completed an investment of 37.31 billion yuan, the best investment completion level in recent years. A total of 57 projects, including the Chengdu-Yibin Expressway and Yibin Wanda Plaza, achieved their start-of-construction targets.