Northwest China fuels transport connectivity
The 2,768-kilometer-long Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway (G7) was fully complete with its last three sections opened to traffic on July 15, marking a new landmark in Northwest China's efforts to enhance its transport connectivity to better serve the Belt and Road Initiative.
The three sections include the 930-kilometer-long section between Linhe, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Baigeda in Gansu, the 134-kilometer-long section between Baigeda and Mingshui, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the 178-kilometer-long section between Mingshui and Hami, Xinjiang.
The new expressway slashes the road distance between Beijing, capital of China and Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang by nearly 1,300 kilometers.
"The expressway opens a convenient, horizontal passageway linking Beijing, northwestern Inner Mongolia, northern Gansu and Xinjiang," said RenJinxiong, an inspector in the Comprehensive Planning Department of the Ministry of Transport.
The five provincial-level regions in Northwest China-Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Xinjiang-are important links along the New Eurasian Land Bridge.
International freight train routes, including Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe and Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe, pass through Northwest China, which has accelerated the building of a modern, three-dimensional transport system with implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Xinjiang, a core zone on the Silk Road Economic Belt, has so far opened 111 international road transport routes with five of the eight countries bordering it. By the end of 2016, the total length of Xinjiang’s road network had exceeded 180,000 kilometers, of which 4,395 kilometers are highways; the region had 5,868 kilometers of rail lines in operation, of which 717 kilometers are high-speed ones.
Xinjiang has operated 676 international freight trains to Central Asia and Europe. The region, which ran 223 westbound freight trains in 2016, plans to increase the number to 400 this year.
Transport connectivity has greatly boosted international trade. In 2016, Xinjiang's trade volume with countries along the Belt and Road reached US$14.7 billion, accounting for 81.7 percent of its total foreign trade. By the end of 2016, Xinjiang had actually utilized US$2.16 billion of foreign direct investment, reporting US$118.04 billion in imports and exports.
On July 9, the Baoji-Lanzhou High-speed Railway was officially opened, bringing three provincial-level regions in Northwest China, namely Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, into the national high-speed railway network. Its opening makes it possible for the 1,776-kilometer Lanzhou-Xinjiang high-speed rail line to reach central and eastern China and will substantially enhance the transport capacity of the Eurasian rail corridor.
The line, together with other rail links in operation, forms an approximately 3,176-kilometer-long horizontal artery which runs from Xuzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province to Xinjiang.
The Yinchuan-Xi'an High-speed Railway, Zhongwei-Lanzhou High-speed Railway and Dunhuang-Golmud Railway are under construction. The Lanzhou-Chongqing Railway, which crosses Gansu, will open to traffic this year. And the Xining-Chengdu Railway, which passes through Qinghai and Gansu, is expected to break the ground this year.
A Silk Road in the air over Northwest China is taking shape. Currently, Xinjiang has 18 airports, with 197 domestic and 41 international air routes opened. Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport, an important airport in Northwest China, has so far launched more than 20 international air routes. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, it has opened more routes to cities in Europe and Central Asia.
Lanzhou, which launched the first road-railway multi-model freight train service to South Asia, is preparing to open a second service to carry goods to Pakistan, according to Xu Chunhua, director of Lanzhou International Port Administrative Committee.
"Transport connectivity is the key to fulfilling the goals of unimpeded trade and financial integration," said Dou Xuecheng, a professor from the School of Economics & Management at Gansu Agricultural University.
Dou said, "Improvement of transport infrastructure in Northwest China will offer strong support to the building of the Belt and Road Initiative."
