The Yangtze River traverses, the Grand Canal runs through, beautiful landscapes, rich culture, dense cities, and a developed economy... The province with the lowest average altitude in China is actually China's economic highland and cultural plateau—Jiangsu Province, a shining pearl on China's eastern coast, dazzling and radiant.
As a deep participant in Jiangsu's economic development, since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) has wielded a masterful pen, repeatedly painting 'CRCC splendor' on the road to helping Jiangsu 'lead the nation's development'.
With the pen of 'professionalism', outlining a three-dimensional transportation network
Jiangsu has vast plains, connects rivers to the sea, and is densely covered with water networks. In an era of underdeveloped technology, these were once a shackle hindering development, lagging behind the 'era of great bridges' and 'era of high-speed rail' for a long time.
The industrious, brave, and wise people of Jiangsu, with their understanding of large-scale transportation development and broad vision, broke free from 'city moat thinking', crossed the 'Yangtze River natural barrier', used 'horizontal rails and vertical bridges' to overcome the separation of water and land, and leveraged the advantages of connecting rivers to the sea. Today, Jiangsu's transportation is vastly different from the past. From 'traveling is difficult, harder than reaching the sky' to 'a thousand miles of Jiangsu in a day', in the future, each prefecture-level city will reach the provincial capital Nanjing within 1.5 hours, travel across the province within 2 hours, and reach the whole country within half a day.
For decades, 'CRCC solutions' and 'CRCC strength' have continuously contributed to the grand vision of Jiangsu's modern comprehensive transportation system.
To develop the economy, the railway 'artery' must be opened.
As early as 1949, on the eve of the field army's crossing of the Yangtze River, to ensure railway transportation, the Railway Column (predecessor of CRCC) urgently repaired the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, and subsequently repaired the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway to support the liberation of Shanghai. By 1968, when the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge railway bridge was completed and opened to traffic, the Tianjin-Pukou and Shanghai-Nanjing lines were connected, renamed the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, becoming the then vital north-south transportation artery and lifeline of the country.
After the reform and opening up, especially starting with the construction of the Xinyi-Changxing Railway in September 1998, Jiangsu set off a massive railway construction boom. By 2010, the Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity Railway opened the curtain on Jiangsu's 'high-speed rail era', and by 2020, the Lianyungang-Huai'an-Yangzhou-Zhenjiang High-Speed Railway was completed and opened, erecting the 'steel backbone'. Jiangsu's railway construction has seen 'a great leap every ten years'.
In the past 10 years, the Xuzhou-Suqian-Huai'an-Yancheng Railway was completed and opened, the railway 'golden belt' unfolded in northern Jiangsu; the South Yanjiang Intercity Railway and North Yanjiang High-Speed Railway are accelerating, driving further speed increases in cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt; the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway and Nanjing-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway were completed and put into operation, forming a 'one-hour high-speed rail circle' among Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou; the Xuzhou-Lianyungang High-Speed Railway, about to open, will connect with the operational Zhengzhou-Xuzhou High-Speed Railway, further 'transfusing blood' for Jiangsu's westward integration into the 'Belt and Road'... By the end of 2020, with the completion and opening of the Yancheng-Nantong High-Speed Railway, Jiangsu's 'three vertical and four horizontal' high-speed rail main framework was completed, and 'Jiangsu on rails' is speeding forward.
Rooted in Jiangsu's railway market, tens of thousands of CRCC sons and daughters from the Fourth Survey and Design Institute, Fifth Survey and Design Institute, Shanghai Institute, as well as China Railway 12th, 14th, 16th, 19th, 22nd, 24th, 25th Bureau Groups, China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group, China Railway Construction Electrification Bureau Group, China Railway Materials, and other units have dedicated their youth and passion to Jiangsu's railway construction frontline. Especially in 2011, the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, in which CRCC participated, opened to traffic, becoming a milestone in China's contemporary railway development history. In July 2020, the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway, in which CRCC participated, opened for operation, turning the blueprint into reality after 13 years of planning and research, 6 years of survey and design, and 6 years of construction...
To achieve interconnectivity, the 'grand skeleton' of expressways must be stretched out.
Looking back to 1996, starting with participation in Jiangsu's first expressway—the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, CRCC has participated in the construction of nearly 20 national-level expressways and nearly 50 provincial-level expressways in Jiangsu, including the Nanjing-Suqian-Xuzhou, Nanjing-Huai'an, Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou (southern), Nanjing-Hangzhou, and Shanghai-Suzhou-Zhejiang expressways. Over the past 20 years, Jiangsu's expressway mileage has exceeded 4,900 kilometers, achieving 'expressways in every county'. The 'five vertical, nine horizontal, five connecting' expressway network has taken shape.
Opening the latest road network map of Jiangsu, it is not hard to find that river-crossing and canal-crossing channels have always been the throat for land transportation.
Since the 1990s, Jiangsu began to accelerate planning and construction of various types of river-crossing channels for highways, railways, and urban rail, moving from 'development embracing the river' to 'cross-river integration'. Currently, more than 20 river-crossing tunnels have been built or are under construction, and 41 will be laid out by 2035.
For decades, multiple units within the CRCC system have each applied their strengths, contributing wisdom and strength to the planning, design, and construction of river-crossing tunnels.
In 2007, the Nanjing Yangtze River Third Bridge, in which China Railway 19th Bureau participated, won the first 'Gustav Lindenthal' International Bridge Award for CRCC and even China.
In 2010, the 'First Tunnel of the Yangtze River'—the Nanjing Yangtze River Tunnel, designed by the Fourth Survey and Design Institute and constructed by China Railway 14th Bureau, crossed the Yangtze River from the riverbed, changing the history of single-mode river crossing in Jiangsu; riding the east wind of the 'bridge and tunnel simultaneously' era, CRCC has successively built the Nanjing Metro Line 10 river-crossing tunnel, advanced the construction of multiple river-crossing channels including Nanjing Heyan Road, Jianning West Road, and Jiangyin Second River-crossing Channel...
Breaking through natural barriers, connecting both banks, Jiangsu's railways and highways are truly connected into a network, interwoven vertically and horizontally.
In the construction of underground transportation networks, Jiangsu also leads the country. Today, Jiangsu has 7 cities—Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Xuzhou, Changzhou, Huai'an, and Kunshan—with operational urban rail transit lines, ranking first in the country in the number of cities with such lines. Accompanying Nanjing Metro for over 20 years, opening a new chapter in Suzhou Metro construction, helping Pengcheng enter the 'dual-line transfer' era... As the main force in Jiangsu's urban rail transit construction, CRCC is continuing to leverage its full industry chain advantages, running out 'CRCC acceleration'.
With the pen of 'fine craftsmanship', jointly painting the most beautiful backdrop for development
Located at the intersection of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road, Jiangsu thrives and develops because of the Yangtze River. Over years of development, the over 400-kilometer riverside area once became a cluster of heavy chemical industries, but a series of ecological problems it brought once became Jiangsu's largest 'ecological scar'.
In 2016, after General Secretary Xi Jinping issued a series of important instructions on promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, it provided fundamental guidance for Jiangsu to protect the Yangtze River ecology and revitalize the mother river. Writing a good 'Yangtze River protection' answer sheet has become an important question that must be answered correctly and well on Jiangsu's high-quality development path.
How to join forces with Jiangsu to achieve co-construction and sharing of ecological environment and infrastructure, and protect the poetic Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River? CRCC strengthens scheme planning, accelerates engineering technology revolution, builds deep competitiveness, and writes vivid practices of protecting the mother river with 'green solutions' one after another.
In recent years, leveraging new advantages in super-large diameter and underwater shield tunnel construction, CRCC successfully completed the shield tunnel of the Suzhou-Nantong GIL integrated pipe gallery project, allowing the 1000 kV ultra-high voltage line in East China to cross the river without affecting the 'river's appearance' or ship navigation.
Walking into the construction site of the Qixu Public Wharf in Taixing Port Area, undertaken by CRCC Port and Waterway Bureau, a river scene of 'green waters rippling, fish swimming and birds perching' unfolds before the eyes. The project changed its approach, designing the wharf as a high-pile beam-slab type to avoid affecting water flow and aquatic life migration.
Since 2019, the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Yangtze River shoreline wetland protection project and the Nanjing Jiangxinzhou—Chengnan sewage system connection project won by CRCC are accelerating, and the vision of the 'most beautiful shoreline' is already in sight...
Today, overlooking the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River, the banks are rippling with blue waves, the 'Yangtze angel' finless porpoises frequently appear, and scenes of pristine riverside beauty are reappearing...
While ensuring 'a river of clear water flowing east', CRCC is also preserving the beautiful scenery of 'spring river, flowers, and moonlit night' for Jiangsu.
In places like Yangzhou Slender West Lake and Suzhou Jinji Lake, tunnels built under the lakebed connect the city's 'dead-end roads', retaining vast expanses of blue waves and protecting many cultural landscapes; beside the Liyang-Gaochun Expressway in Jiangsu, the road winds through tens of thousands of acres of ponds and rice fields, crossing two canal waterways, with egrets occasionally taking flight, the scenery is enchanting... For years, CRCC has been protecting the 'green and blue' of the land of fish and rice with practical actions.
The beauty of Jiangsu lies in its natural ecological environment and rich cultural atmosphere. In the future, to create green and cultural landscapes for Jiangsu and paint a good backdrop for development, CRCC will continue to play a symphony of integration.
With the pen of 'forging ahead', splashing ink to open a new chapter
On January 9, 2021, the large-diameter shield of the Suzhou Tongjing Road North Extension Project, in which CRCC participated, successfully crossed the Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity High-Speed Railway with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, completing the hardest 'crossing journey' in urban tunnel history, and the victory of opening the north-south 'dead-end road' that has plagued Suzhou for 10 years is in sight.
For years, the Fourth Survey and Design Institute and Fifth Survey and Design Institute have successively established research institutions, physical branches, and external offices in Nanjing, Changzhou, Suzhou, Nantong, and other cities, forming a business network centered on Nanjing covering the whole province and the Yangtze River Delta region. In 2016, China Railway 14th Bureau established China's first large shield company in Nanjing, deeply cultivating the core large shield market in the Yangtze River Delta. Not only that, in 2014, the Fourth Survey and Design Institute invested in establishing the country's first tram professional design institute in Suzhou—East China Tram Transportation Design Institute, accelerating the incubation of the new rail transit industry. The segment factory settled in Changzhou by China Railway 19th Bureau Sixth Company became the first certification pilot unit for the national '13th Five-Year' key research and development plan 'Building Components and Accessories Product Quality Certification and Certification Technology System'... Deeply cultivating Jiangsu and serving Jiangsu, CRCC units continue to leverage opportunities, explore transformation and development paths, optimize professional sectors, strengthen business models, and integrate into the texture of Jiangsu's economic development.
In recent years, CRCC has accelerated investment in emerging industries such as smart cities, underground spaces, Yangtze River ecological environment protection, cultural tourism and health care, and comprehensive urban development in Jiangsu, deepening the path of enterprise-local integration and weaving an increasingly dense network.
In 2017, CRCC Investment invested in and operated CRCC's first district development PPP project—the Nanjing Jiangning District Jiangning Street New Town Construction Project, and CRCC's first characteristic town PPP project—the Yangzhou Wantou Jade Characteristic Town PPP Project, which will accelerate and improve the quality and speed of Jiangsu's national new urbanization construction.
In 2018, the first phase of the Dehuai Semiconductor Chip Industrial Park, undertaken by China Railway 25th Bureau, was completed. After design and production, it will form a full industry chain of image sensor semiconductor chip design and wafer manufacturing, with products applied in mobile phones, automobiles, drones, robots, etc., helping Jiangsu plan to build a hundred-billion-level semiconductor industry cluster.
In 2019, CRCC Heavy Investment, as the leader, jointly with China Railway 21st Bureau, Fifth Survey and Design Institute, CRCC Fund Company, etc., won the bid for Jiangsu's pilot project—the Gaoyou City Lakeside Scenic Ecological Corridor PPP Project, adopting the 'Build-Operate-Transfer' (BOT) operation model to promote the integrated development of 'agriculture, tourism, and health care'...
The way of benefit lies in advancing with the times. Today, under the support of a series of national strategies, Jiangsu's high-quality development pace is accelerating, providing a broader stage for CRCC's development. One of the 9 regional headquarters CRCC will establish—the Central China Regional Headquarters—is located in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province. With the regional headquarters as the leader, it will accelerate docking with local governments and key enterprises, and coordinate with various design institutes and engineering bureaus to continue leveraging the full industry chain advantages of 'urban planning + survey and design + capital operation + investment consulting + construction management' to 'conquer cities and fortresses' and invest in Jiangsu's new round of development tide.
Data shows that currently CRCC has more than 270 projects under construction in Jiangsu, with the average annual growth rate of total contracted business in the past 3 years reaching over 35%. In 2020, overcoming unfavorable factors, it broke through the 100 billion yuan mark in one go.
'Roots deep, branches flourish; ointment rich, light bright.' For decades, CRCC has deeply cultivated the fertile soil of Jiangsu, striving to assist economic takeoff and bearing abundant fruits. Jiangsu, located at the 'intersection' of national strategies such as the 'Belt and Road', the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and Yangtze River Delta regional integration, is currently continuing to cultivate new development 'growth poles'. Fully integrating into the construction of a new Jiangsu that is 'strong, rich, beautiful, and high', CRCC's steps are resounding.