China to Witness Great Transportation DevelopmentChina's freight and passenger transport volume are expected to grow at average annual rates of 3.5 percent and seven percent respectively over the next five years, official forecasts said.According to a plan the State Development Planning Commission drafted for the development of China's traffic and transportation system, the annual transport volume of cargo will increase by three billion tons over 2000 to 16.5 billion tons in 2005, while the number of passengers will grow by 6.4 billion to 21 billion people. In order to accelerate the upgrading of its transport system, China will open up the transport operation market to both domestic and foreign investors. It is planning to set up foreign-funded transport companies and enterprises of various types of ownership through mergers, joint ventures, equity swaps, public listings and leases. Meanwhile, China will encourage foreign investors to invest in the construction and running of transport facilities. According to the plan, China will relax controls on the proportion foreign funds allowed to be used in such construction projects over the next five years. It will also expand the scope of direct foreign investment in the field. Overseas investors will have access to a large share of the construction projects. In the next five years, China will build 6,000 kilometers of railways, add double tracks to 3,000 kilometers of existing railways and electrify another 5,000 kilometers of existing railways. As a result, the total length of China's railways will reach 75,000 kilometers. The next five years will also see another 20 thousand kilometers of roads constructed in China, including 10,000 kilometers of superhighways. One hundred and forty-one deep-water berths will be built before 2005, including 50 container berths, three oil terminals and three ore terminals. These projects will help expand the cargo handling capacity of China's ports by 260 million tons. In the next five years, the country will harness 3,350 kilometers of water routes along its major rivers, adding 25 million tons of handling capacity to its water ways. By 2005, China will build or renovate 150 airports, including three international-standard aviation hubs in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, 13 large airports, three standby airports and 40 lateral airports. In the next five years, China will increase the length of its oil and gas pipelines to 40,000 kilometers. By 2005, Chinese cities will have 180,000 kilometers of roads, 300,000 buses and one million taxis. |
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