The reporter recently learned from the Hunan Provincial Department of Transportation that in the first half of this year, Hunan completed 41.969 billion yuan in transportation fixed asset investment, up 65.73% and 108.83% compared with the same periods of 2020 and 2019 respectively, and reaching 51.94% of the annual target. Both the total investment and the completion ratio were the highest for the same period in history.

From January to June, major transportation projects listed among Hunan's "Top Ten Infrastructure Projects" got off to a smooth start, with two expressway projects—Xinhua to Xinning and the Yiyang–Changde capacity expansion—beginning construction on schedule. Projects listed among the "Top Ten People's Livelihood Practical Matters" were steadily advanced: across the province, 1,993 kilometers of rural roads were upgraded and 4,660 kilometers of safety protection works were completed, accounting for 49.8% and 46.6% of the annual targets respectively. In addition, three high-grade waterway construction projects—Lishui from Shimen to Lixian, the Xiangjiang from Yongzhou to Hengyang, and the Yuanshui from Changde to Nianyukou—commenced construction on April 20.

Focusing on the main battleground of expressways, Zhao Ping, Party Secretary and Director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Transportation, successively convened director's office meetings and construction project scheduling meetings to consolidate responsibilities and advance work in overlapping phases, promptly studying and resolving practical problems encountered by newly started projects to ensure they are put into operation and deliver results as early as possible. The provincial department issued the "Hunan Province Expressway High-Quality Construction Wall-Chart Combat Target and Task Table" and the "2021 Expressway Construction Investment Reverse Schedule Table," setting out task lists, timetables, road maps and responsible persons for the province's 26 expressway projects under construction totaling 1,873 kilometers, implementing wall-chart combat and reverse investment scheduling. Hunan also established a strict supervision mechanism, conducting 51 supervision and inspection rounds on expressways under construction in the first half of the year.

In conjunction with Party history learning and education, Hunan's transportation authorities optimized government approval services for project construction, piloted tolerance-based approval, implemented phased and categorized approval of construction drawing design, intervened in advance, and clarified timetables and responsible persons to ensure review quality and timeliness. They promoted online processing of quality and safety supervision procedures and, on the premise of ensuring quality and safety, actively coordinated with various departments to accelerate land use approval and land acquisition and demolition for control projects, advancing the early commencement of control projects.