In 2022, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance started the work of strengthening and upgrading the national comprehensive freight hub chain, focusing on the critical juncture of comprehensive national transport network’s main structure, reinforcing and upgrading the weak links in the industrial chains of city construction. In order to promote cities as national comprehensive freight hubs, the first group of 15 cities was supported to serve as such hubs including Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan. The program accelerated the construction of comprehensive freight hubs and port collection and distribution system, effectively serving the stability and fluency of supply chain and industrial chain.
2023 is the second year of the implementation of the policy. Many cities have actively participated in the application process, drawing close attention from National People's Congress (NPC) deputies at all levels. The General Office of the NPC Standing Committee has made “focusing on the connection and improvement of the network and reinforcement of industrial chain, accelerate the construction of the comprehensive national transport network” as one of the key supervisory topics for the First Session of the Fourteenth NPC. This topic includes 13 representative proposals, 8 of which related to the reinforcing and upgrading the weak links in the industrial chains of the national comprehensive freight hub network. To date, all 10 key supervisory recommendations proposed by the Ministry of Transport have been fully addressed.
The proposals from the deputies reflect the people's aspirations and voices. The Ministry of Transport attaches great importance to these proposals and has carefully combed the content and issues raised in the key supervisory recommendations. In accordance with its responsibilities, the ministry has formulated and issued work plans and established mechanisms for pre-process exchanges, in-process communication and post-process feedback in collaboration with participating units, while at the same time, closely connected with its operational work, the ministry has systematically reviewed the development of the main structure of comprehensive national transportation network. All participating units have actively provided timely updates on the progress.
During the responding process, the Ministry of Transport has maintained whole-process, non-adulteration communication with deputies, minded closely their concerns and provided updates on progress and strategies. From July 25thto 27th, a joint research team composed of the Comprehensive Planning Department of the Ministry of Transport, the Liaison Office of the NPC Standing Committee, the Financial and Economic Committee of the NPC, and the Infrastructure Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission conducted field surveys in Xi'an, Shaanxi. During their visit, the research team held forums to exchange views on handling key supervisory recommendations and the enhancement and strengthening of the national comprehensive freight hub network in Xi'an and Yinchuan. They also conducted on-site inspections of projects related to comprehensive freight hub development, including the third-phase expansion of Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and the Xi’an China-Europe Railway Express Hub. Officials from the transportation and finance departments of Shaanxi, Ningxia, Xi'an, and Yinchuan attended the forum.
The deputies who proposed the relevant recommendations have expressed their appreciation for the diligent efforts made by the Ministry of Transport and associated units. They recognized that their suggestions have been thoroughly examined, adopted and promoted in line with actual conditions and have successfully achieved positive outcomes in terms of building consensus, improving operations and advancing development. Additionally, they have highly praised the Ministry of Transport for its work and achievement related to the strategy of “focusing on the connection and improvement of the network and reinforcement of industrial chain, accelerate the construction of the comprehensive national transport network”. The deputies also commended the Ministry for its earnestness in listening to feedback and its practical approach to studying measures for action.
In February 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council unveiled guidelines on developing comprehensive transport network. It developed strategic plans of moving faster to build the high-efficiency and comprehensive national transport network, a multi-level national comprehensive transport-hub system. On April 26, 2022, the eleventh meeting of the nineteenth Central Financial and Economic Commission stressed that network-based infrastructure development, including transportation, energy, and water conservancy, should be strengthened. Giving priority to network connectivity and improvement and supply chains enhancement. Efforts should be made to improve network benefits. Speeding up the building of the network’s main structure. Strengthening the construction of comprehensive freight hubs and port collection and distribution system.
The main structure of the Comprehensive National Transport Network consists of the most crucial network, including 6 main axes, 7 corridors, and 8 channels, with 21 major urban clusters in China. It serves as the main corridor of comprehensive national transport network, the main axis of territorial space development, and the major artery of national economic circulation. The Comprehensive National Transport Hub is an important part of comprehensive national transport network, serving as a critical juncture of ensuring smooth transfer among diverse means of transportation, and a major carrier for the integration and development of transportation and its associated sectors. The hub plays a crucial part in enhancing network efficiency, adjusting the composition of the transportation sector, and forging a modern logistics system.
In the next step, the Ministry of Transport will strictly follow the requirements, work assignments, and time schedules according to the key supervision and recommendations, and carry out work under representatives’ suggestions to ensure timely and high-quality completion. During this process, the ministry will fully consider the opinions and suggestions put forth by the representatives, focus on policies and measures related to strengthening and improving the network and accelerating the construction of the main framework. By transforming these recommendations into institutional systems and measures, our aim is to build a modern, high-quality Comprehensive National Transport Network, move faster to boost China’s strength in transportation development, and strive to serve as a good frontier in China’s modernization drive.
Reprinted from: China Traffic News