Southwest Gateway to the Sea Opens for Traffic

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 05, 2001

Southwest Gateway to the Sea Opens for Traffic

The highway, the only southwest corridor leading to the sea, starts from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, passes Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou Province and Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, and ends up in Beihai city, a Guangxi coastal outlet. The highway's length is 1,709 km, costing 25.5 billion yuan (about 3.08 billion US dollars), with about 1,015 km being expressway.

Southwest Gateway to the Sea Opens for Traffic

The end of November saw China complete the 14-year construction of an expressway that runs through southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Guizhou, and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region and ends at the sea area, being the first ever high-standard expressway of its kind open to traffic in west regions.

The southwest sea gateway, being all high-grade road, runs at a full length of 1709 kilometers, including 59.4 percent expressway (1015 kilometers), 3.9 percent first-class highway and 36.7 percent second-class highway. It starts from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and traverses across Ziyang, Neijiang, Longchang, Luxian, Naxi, Xuyong to Chishui River at the border of Sichuan and Guizhou provinces. Then it runs through Guizhou's Dafang, Xiuwen, Guiyang, Guiding, Duyun, Dushan to Liuzhai where Guizhou and Guangxi meets. After that it enters the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and cross Nandan, Shuiren, Yizhou, Liuzhou, Laibin, Naning, Qinzhou, Hepu to reach Beihai, a coastal city of the Beibu Bay. Respectively, it has 452, 539 and 717 kilometers within Sichuan, Guizhou Provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Great Difficulties

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice Minister of Communication Zhang Chunxian said the geological conditions of the mountainous Southwestern region are poor, which created great difficulties for the project. He said 1,089 bridges had to be built along the highway.

The project in Guizhou province was especially difficult, where there are not only mountains, but solute caves. Statistics show that the total length of highway in Guizhou province is 539 km, along which 435 bridges are built.

In the past, the Yangtze river was the only way to the sea for the southwestern region. The newly-opened southwest highway is now the shortest and cheapest way to the sea.

Cars and trucks need only about 30 hours to travel the whole highway, with only 20 or so hours for cars.

Great Achievement

Completion of the gateway marks a great achievement in the west development strategy. It's construction started in December 1987, and speeded up in recent two years. At a cost of 25.5 bn yuan, it is an over 20 hour driving distance by a sedan car.

Zhang said the opening of the highway will help improve traffic conditions in the Southwestern region, and provide a good environment for attracting overseas capital into the development of the Southwestern region.

The economy of the provinces along the highway, including the counties for minority groups, will grow rapidly following the opening of the highway, and will further strengthen the unity of the minority groups, said Zhang.

Zhang added that the highway will also help to develop and protect the scenery along the highway, and make it easier to explore and use nearby rich resources like coal, iron, sulfur, marble and a hundred other minerals.

The southwest highway to the sea is the best road ever constructed in the Southwestern region, and the only highway leading to the sea. It is also the third main road which acts as a corridor for connecting several provinces for economic development.

It is China's third trunk line completed after the Beijing-Shenyang expressway and Beijing-Shanghai expressway and also the first sea gateway in west China.

China to Spend Altogether 347 Billion Yuan on Western Roads and Railways

By the end of 2005, some 42,000-km of new roads will be constructed in southwest China.

The projects included construction of some 3,400-km of express way, 1,600 of grade-one roads and 11,000-km of grade-two roads.

The projects, with an estimated investment of 220 billion yuan (approximately 26.6 billion US dollars), will increase the gross length of roads in southwest China to 380,000 kilometers.

In southwest China, roads will also be built in 463 towns and 10,000 villages which at present lack transportation links.

China will spend 127 billion yuan (about 15 billion U.S. dollars) on railway construction in its western regions in five years.

The Ministry of Railways will help the western regions to have 25,000 km of railways by the year 2005, with 11,400 km in the southwest.

In the past ten years, the investment in railways in southwest China accounted for more than 30 percent of the national total in railway infrastructure construction.

By the end of last year, there were 10,000 km of railways in operation in the southwest, accounting for 15 percent of the nation's total.

The lengthen of electrified railways in southwest China now reaches 4,600 km, doubling the average level of the country.

By PD Online Staff Li Heng

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