Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Transport has accelerated the advancement of major projects, achieving the completion and opening to traffic of the Tian'e Longtan Bridge in Guangxi, the world's largest-span arch bridge, and the full breakthrough of the Muzhailing Tunnel, a controlling node of the Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway; the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link and the Beijing East Sixth Ring Road reconstruction project have entered the sprint stage; expressways such as the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau and Shanghai-Chongqing expressways are successively being expanded and upgraded; and a number of major projects such as the Pinglu Canal and the Xiaoyangshan North Container Terminal are being accelerated.

It is learned from the Ministry of Transport that as of now, among the 102 major projects in the national "14th Five-Year Plan," more than 260 involving transportation have started or been completed, with total investment exceeding 1.3 trillion yuan. In the first quarter of this year, China completed 712.5 billion yuan in fixed-asset investment in transportation, with the investment scale remaining at a high level, providing solid support for promoting the recovery and improvement of China's economy.

Recently, many places across China have successively announced their first-quarter transportation fixed-asset investment figures and annual transportation investment plans. On the basis of accelerating the construction of a series of transportation construction projects, they will continue to increase infrastructure investment to provide strong momentum for accelerating the building of a country with strong transportation, fostering a new development pattern, and promoting high-quality development.

The main structure of the new National Highway 109 expressway has basically been completed; three new rail transit lines planned to open within the year, including Phase I of Metro Line 3 and Metro Line 12, have entered the equipment installation and commissioning stage; and the construction of comprehensive transportation hubs at the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center Station and Fengtai Station is progressing steadily... Since the beginning of this year, Beijing has accelerated the advancement of transportation infrastructure construction, completing 20.5 percent of the annual investment target for rail transit in the first quarter, exceeding the first-quarter investment target.

Xu Huijie, Party Secretary and Director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, said that this year the focus will mainly be on the development needs of key areas, with a plan to complete 50 billion yuan of investment in roads and other transportation projects, an increase of 16 percent year on year. Priority will be given to municipal key projects such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development, post-disaster reconstruction, and unblocking micro-circulation. The transportation department will adhere to a construction approach of scientific coordination and appropriate forward-looking planning to bring new momentum and new opportunities for high-quality development.

Drilling, installation, wiring... Recently, at the Wuling Mountain Service Area on the Hebei section of the Chengping Expressway, workers were installing energy-saving facilities. "The service area is undergoing interior decoration, plaza landscaping, and equipment installation, and will be completed within the year. It will become the first zero-carbon service area in Chengde City, Hebei Province, and the first zero-carbon service area in the mountainous areas of Hebei Province. On the Hebei section of the Chengping Expressway, about 2,000 people are working simultaneously. We will speed up the progress to ensure that the Hebei section of the Chengping Expressway is completed and put into use by the end of September," said a relevant person in charge of the Chengde Municipal Transport Bureau.

It is learned from the Hebei Provincial Department of Transport that since the beginning of this year, Hebei Province has actively expanded effective transportation investment and continuously improved the comprehensive multi-dimensional transportation network, arranging a total of 162 key transportation construction projects this year. In the first quarter, the overall transportation operation got off to a good start, with the scale of fixed-asset investment remaining at a high level. The province's transportation construction projects completed investment of 20.83 billion yuan, a record high for the same period.

With tower cranes standing in clusters and vehicles shuttling back and forth, the builders of the expressway project from Guiyang, Guizhou, to Pingtang County, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, are going all out to make progress and ensure that the project advances on schedule. At the construction sites of various sections of the Lihe Expressway project, workers are carrying out construction in an intense and orderly manner. After the project is completed and opened to traffic, it will add a direct expressway link between Guangxi and Guizhou.

On the basis of completing more than 100 billion yuan of investment in highways and water transport in 2023, Guizhou will maintain the intensity of transportation investment this year, ensuring the completion of more than 80 billion yuan in fixed-asset investment in highways and water transport, with a number of major transportation projects being advanced in a continuous sequence.

The water-stabilized base construction of the entire Ningxia section of the Yinchuan-Kunming Expressway has been completed, and the Hongsibu-Enhe section of National Highway 338 has officially entered the superstructure construction of bridges...

It is learned from the Department of Transport of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region that the region's 12 key transportation construction projects have smoothly resumed work and production and are progressing steadily, completing 1.06 billion yuan in fixed-asset investment in highways and waterways in the first quarter.

The Wuhan-Ezhou-Huanggang-Huangshi rapid road system will achieve the goal of "one-year connectivity" ahead of schedule, 34 expressway projects under construction are being accelerated, and the Huanggang Wuxue Port Area rail-water intermodal transport project is striving to be completed and put into use next year...

On the basis of record highs in both investment scale and investment growth in 2023, Hubei will continue to comprehensively accelerate transportation infrastructure construction this year, maintaining a virtuous cycle of a batch under construction, a batch started, and a batch in reserve. In the first quarter, Hubei completed 44.96 billion yuan in fixed-asset investment in highways and waterways, up 15.1 percent year on year, a record high.

The Bozhou-Mengcheng Expressway in Anhui has fully entered the superstructure construction of bridges, the lower crossbeam of the main tower of the Huai River Grand Bridge on the Ningluo Expressway has been poured, and the construction of the Xuzhou-Huaibei-Fuyang Expressway, the Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway, and other projects is also being accelerated...

Since the beginning of this year, Anhui has vigorously implemented a special action for effective investment in transportation infrastructure, completing 27.08 billion yuan in transportation fixed-asset investment in the first quarter, up 4.3 percent year on year. Sun Donggen, Deputy Director of the Anhui Provincial Department of Transport, said that this year a new round of special action for effective investment will be thoroughly implemented, striving to complete more than 130 billion yuan in transportation construction investment for the whole year.