Transport infrastructure development in China

Abstract

This paper reviews the historical configuration process of transportation systems in China and examines the relationship between economic development and transport system at three different levels. The current status of transport infrastructure system development in China is summarized at national and regional level. The investment trends for transport infrastructure in China are also depicted. The keys issues relating to government initiatives are presented.

Full text

J
Jo
ou
ur
rn
na
al
l
o
of
f
S
Su
us
st
ta
ai
in
na
ab
bl
le
e
D
De
ev
ve
el
lo
op
pm
me
en
nt
t
o
of
f
T
Tr
ra
an
ns
sp
po
or
rt
t
a
an
nd
d
L
Lo
og
gi
is
st
ti
ic
cs
s
journal home page: http://jsdtl.sciview.net
Bayane, M.B., & Yanjun, Q. (2017). Transport infrastructure development in China. Journal of
Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 29-39. doi:10.14254/jsdtl.2017.2-
1.3.
Corresponding author: Bouraima Mouhamed Bayane
E-mail: soulsafmob@my.swjtu.edu.cn
This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
‹ 29 ›
Scientific Platform
ISSN 2520-2979
Transport infrastructure development in China
Bouraima Mouhamed Bayane, Qiu Yanjun
Southwest Jiaotong University,
Chengdu, Sichuan 610031, China
School of Civil Engineering, Key Laboratory of Highway Engineering
Abstract: This paper reviews the historical configuration
process of transportation systems in China and examines the
relationship between economic development and transport
system at three different levels. The current status of transport
infrastructure system development in China is summarized at
national and regional level. The investment trends for
transport infrastructure in China are also depicted. The keys
issues relating to government initiatives are presented.
Keywords: transportation system, transportation history,
investment, economic development
Article history:
Received: March, 2017
1st Revision: April, 2017
Accepted: May, 2017
DOI:
10.14254/jsdtl.2017.2-1.3
1. Introduction
Transport infrastructure contributes to the economic development of human society in
industrial, agricultural or even knowledge-economy using post-industrial society. Since it is often
mentioned as a key to promoting growth and development, it give a stimulus to the advancement of
civilization and functions as an imperative for the world to avoid chaos and establish order. Historical
construction of infrastructure such as railroads coincided with periods of rapid economic growth in
Western Europe, Japan, and the United States. Thus, the significance of transportation development
grows with social and economic development (Coyle et al., 2000).

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 30 ›
The history of the old civilization in China has witnessed an impressive in transportation
development as well as social progress. The transportation development may find its historic
achievements through a construction of road especially for the monarch riding of carriages in Chi Dao
of Qin Dynasty, the Silk Road, a corridor to Western Regions in Han Dynasty, Zhaozhou Bridge built in
Sui Dynasty, Lugou Bridge constructed in Jin Dynasty, and the posthouses of Tang and Song Dynasties.
The construction of the Great Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou which was started in 5th century BC and
completed in Sui Dynasty, for thousands of years, has made great contributions to the transportation
of goods and the communication between the north and the south of China.
In 1405, a first fleet headed by Zheng He voyaged Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. It was
made up of 317 ships with 2800 people on board. This trip was beyond the imagination of the
Europeans in the Middle Ages. Up to the year 1431, 7 important voyages have been at least made by
Chinese to prove its capability to the outside world. These voyages have significant benefits to Chinese
since they have returned with rare animals and certain precious and medicable vegetables and
minerals (Landers, 2001). Although great efforts have been made by the people of ancient China in
transportation culture, the country has been lagging far behind the industrialized western countries in
transportation since Industrial Revolution in the West ushered in mineral and mechanical- powered
modern transportation.
The productivity of the transportation industry has redoubled with the innovations of new
technology and new energy, together with the institutional innovation of “market revolution” (Zhang,
1991). People who were separated from one another have been sent onto the path of economic
globalization due to the constant progress of modern transportation and communications
technologies. With the industrial revolution, transportation, as an indication of technological
advancement and civilization succession, has been accelerating its growth for the past 200 years in the
history of transportation development of developed countries. From 1950, the development
undergoes several phases, from water and railway transportation, to the corresponding development
of five means of transportation: railway transportation, road transportation, water transportation, air
transportation, and pipeline transportation as a result of technological progress in high-speed railway,
superhighway, super ships, large jet planes, and container transportation technology. Transportation
is recently more than just a tool of shortening distance and saving time. It has become an
indispensable part of modern society from the function as a traveling vehicle in daily life to production
and circulation in economic society, from regional economic exploitation to national defense
construction. It has been served as a bridge to enhance communication, open to the outside world,
promote space integration, link economy and trade, and push on social progress. It has also become
the foundation of order stabilization in the civilized society.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, especially since the economic
reforms began in 1978 and the fiscal decentralization in the 1990s, there has been a rapid
development in China’s transportation. Powerful transportation infrastructures have replaced the
poor ones, the port infrastructures became the most powerful in the world, the mileage of highway
used by traffic has moved forward to the second position in the world and of railway business to the
third (Wang, 2004), the world Passenger and freight volumes the largest, and airports and civil
aviation among the top in the world. The industry of China’s transport has entered a period of sound
progress with the transport technologies which keep increasing. With the improvement of the State
Council, the transport planning has been set up, and transport installations network is under all-round
construction.
2. Relationship between economic development and transport system
Transportation infrastructures are among the foremost issues in the development of China; and
include roads, railways, ports, airports, and waterways. They have been one of the major engines of
China’s economic growth (Fan, Bai, &Pan, 2004; Lou, 2003; Zhang, 2009). There is actually internal
links between economic development and transport, which is important to thoroughly understand for
China’s macro-management of transport development. The analysis of the internal links is at three
levels: macroeconomic level, microeconomic level, and general equilibrium. The relationship between
economic development and transport system based on the three levels are summarized in Table 1.

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 31 ›
Table 1. Relationship between economic development and transport system based on levels
Levels
Macroeconomic
 Appropriate transport planning induced economic development (World
Bank, 1995)
 Inadequate transport infrastructure creates economic development
bottlenecks (Wang, 2006).
 Transports services as the largest infrastructure absorb 5%-8% of working
population in infrastructure related services
Microeconomic
 Improvement of transport infrastructure reduced spatial economic
development
 Access of transports users to cheaper and reliable services
 Improvement of logistics services
 Reduction of redundant production facilities
 Convergence and proliferation of regional economic activities
 Increase of goods and/or services added value
 Promotion of economic development and social progress
 Free flow of people and commodities between the production and
consumption
 Reduction of element costs
 Improvement of the mobility and transfer of production elements
 Increase of social welfare of individuals
 Exposure of people to a wider range of community facilities
 Provide better publics goods (Button, 1998)
General
equilibrium
 Reduction of transport cost
 Improvement of allocation of resources
 Improvement of service quality
 Providence of more opportunities for the development of low-income areas
by linking both developed and under-developed regions
 Narrow of gap between regions
 Promotion of land development and social equity
 Transport infrastructure as integral element of national defense and war
preparedness system
3. Current status of transport infrastructure development in China
3.1. National level
3.1.1. Highways
China’s highway carried a total of 16,190,970,000 passengers in 2015 against 16,973,810,000
passengers in 2005, a decrease of 782840 passengers. The total highway passenger-km increased by
1,074,270 million passenger-km in 2015 against 929210 million passenger-km in 2005. The volume of
freight dispatched by the highway in China amounted to 31,500,190,000 tons in 2015 against
13,417,780,000 tons in 2005. The total highway freight-ton-km reached 5,795,570 million ton-km in
2015 against 869,320 million ton-km in 2005. Highways length has increased from 3,345,200 km in
China from 1978 to 2015, reaching 4,577,300 km in 2015. The layout of the road network has further
improved. The technical grades and road surface grades have been both upgraded. Highway
construction has broken through the historical records. Road length in the counties and towns has
continuously and rapidly increased. The road density has also increased, and the accessibility by roads
has been improved. All the data explained above are summarized in Figure 1.

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 32 ›
a) Total highway passenger traffic in China, 1978-2015
b) Total highway freight traffic in China, 1978-2015
c) Total highway passenger kilometers in China, 1978-2015
d) Total highway freight-ton-kilometers in China, 1978-2015
Fig. 1. Highway passenger and freight traffic in China. Data were collected by the
authors based on the China Statistical Yearbook in various years (1978-2015)
3.1.2 Railways
By the end of 2015, the length of running railways was 121,000 km, 37.6 percent
up from 2005. Passengers by Rail in 2015 reached 2,534,840,000 against
1,155,830,000 passengers from 2005 year. The total railway passenger-km was
1,196,060 million passenger-km in 2015 against 606200 million passenger-km in

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 33 ›
2005. The total freight capacity was about 3,358,010,000 tons in 2015 against
2,692,960,000 tons in 2005. The total railway freight-ton-km increased to 2,375,430
million ton-km in 2015 while it was 2,072,600 million ton-km in 2005. Figure 2 shows
the railway transportation development within the period, 1978-2015.
a) Total railway passenger traffic in China, 1978-2015
b) Total railway freight traffic in China, 1978-2015
c) Total railway passenger kilometers in China, 1978-2015
d) Total railway freight-ton-kilometers in China, 1978-2015
Fig. 2. Railway passenger and freight traffic in China. Data were collected by the
authors based on the China Statistical Yearbook in various years (1978-2015)

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 34 ›
3.1.3 Waterway
The total transportation capacity of the freight increased 2,196,480,000 tons in the 2005 year
from to 6,135,670,000 tons in the 2004 year. The total waterway passenger traffic reached
270,720,000 passengers in the 2015 year against 202,270,000 in the 2005. The total waterway
passenger-km and freight-ton-kilometer were 7,130 million and 9,177,250 million respectively against
6,780 million and 4,967,230 million in the 2005 year. The development of waterway transportation is
shown through Figure 3.
a) Total waterway passenger traffic in China, 1978-2015
b) Total waterway freight traffic in China, 1978-2015
c) Total waterway passenger kilometers in China, 1978-2015
d) Total waterway freight-ton-kilometers in China, 1978-2015
Fig. 3. Waterway passenger and freight traffic in China. Data were collected by the
authors based on the China Statistical Yearbook in various years (1978-2015)

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 35 ›
3.1.4 Airline
The civil airline of China became the second large air transportation system in the world, next to
the United States, in 2005, based on data on the total turnover of regular airlines by the International
Civil Airline Organization of the Member States. China has the fastest growing passenger air market of
any country in the world (by total passenger numbers) and between 2005 and 2015 the number of
passengers increased 3 times from 138,270,000 to 436,180,000. The total railway passenger-km was
728,260 million passenger-km in 2015 against 204,490 million passenger-km in 2005. The total
freight capacity was about 6,293,000 tons in 2015 while 3,067,000 tons is registered in 2005. The total
airline freight-ton-km increased to 20,807 million ton-km in 2015 while it was 7,890 million ton-km in
2005. Figure 4 presents the airline passenger and freight traffic along with passenger-kilometer and
freight-ton-kilometer.
a) Total air passenger traffic in China, 1978-2015
0
200
400
600
800
1978 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total air freight
traffic (10000
tons)
Year
b) Total air freight traffic in China, 1978-2015
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
1978 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total air
passengers.kilomete
rs (100 millions
passengers-km)
Year
c) Total air passenger kilometers in China, 1978-2015
0
100
200
300
1978 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total air freight ton-
kilometers
(100 millions tons-
km)
Year
d) Total air freight-ton-kilometers in China, 1978-2015
Fig. 4. Air passenger and freight traffic in China. Data were collected by the authors
based on the China Statistical Yearbook in various years (1978-2015)

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 36 ›
3.2 Regional level
As the world’s largest developing country, China’s has various geographic conditions in different
parts for building transport infrastructures. It also has experienced interprovincial inequality growth
during its transition process to a market-based economy. Studies by Fan and Sun (2008) show that
there was declining inequality since 2004. These studies have also pointed out various factors that
drive regional inequality such as human capital endowment, infrastructure, coastal location, fiscal
transfer, deregulation of private enterprises, and Open-Door Policy that attract FDIs. Studies by
Kanbur and Zhang (2005) attributed regional inequality to three key policy variables: the ratio of
heavy industry, the degree of decentralization and the degree of openness. The ladder-step
development strategy has been carried out by China in the early stages of economic reform. The
government has encouraged certain regions to get rich quickly (Wei, 1999), that what explains the
higher economic growth and a more advanced infrastructure in the eastern region since 1978. China’s
transport infrastructure has been shaped by diverse institutional reforms and policy over 60 years
(Fan & Chan-Kang, 2008).
In the 1960s, heavy industry was favored due to infrastructure investments by centralized
decision-making structure. Areas such North-Eastern China, where most of the heavy industry were
based, have noticed the rapid development of transport network. More specially, railway development
was a priority over other types of transport, to carry huge quantity of resources and raw materials. As
result of heavy industry in the North-Eastern China, it can be seen from Table 2, that among all the
regions in China, eastern China registered the highest railway passenger traffic, with 786,960,000
persons in 2015 while Northern China ranked first in terms of volume of freight dispatched by railway
in the same year. Central & Southern registered the highest highway passenger traffic, with nearly
4,696,890,000 passengers in 2015. Eastern ranked second in terms of highway passenger traffic and
amounted to 4,349,830,000 passengers. Water transportation in China could be generally categorized
under “ports” and “inland waterways”. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s
waterway carried a total 270,720,000 passengers in 2015. Eastern’s waterway carried a total of
110,720,000 passengers in 2015. The waterway passenger traffic of Eastern ranked first among all the
regions in China. It also ranked first in terms of the waterway freight traffic in China (Table 2). Based
on China Airport production statistics bulletin in 2015, the eastern region has registered the highest
air passenger and freight traffics with 265,945,725 passengers and 5,731,599. 56 tons respectively.
Table 2. Passenger and freight traffic by regions in China
Railways
Highways
Waterways
Civil air
Region
in
China
Passenger
traffic
Freight
traffic
Passenger
traffic
Freight
traffic
Passenger
traffic
Freight
traffic
Passenger
traffic
Freight
traffic
1
39,204
153,376
140,815
435,972
186
14,410
14,552.01
140.01
2
29,942
29,907
121,914
255,048
1,064
14,877
5,488.49
48.87
3
78,696
45,883
434,983
930,346
11,072
363,896
26,594.57
573.15
4
68,062
33,186
469,689
846,948
7,362
177,568
21,552.07
364.86
5
22,272
20,041
306,750
406,964
6,652
25,698
15,630.06
232.246
6
15,305
53,415
14,945
274,745
733
252
7,927.1
50.249
Note: Data were collected from China Statistical Yearbook (published by State Statistical Bureau)
in 2015.
(1: Northern): Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Tianjin.
(2: Northeastern): Jilin, Liaoning, Heilongjiang.
(3: Eastern): Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shangdong, and Jiangxi.
(4: Central & Southern): Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan.
(5: Southwestern): Chongqing, Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, and Yunnan.
(6: Northwestern): Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, and Qinghai
Passenger traffic in (10000 persons) unit
Freight traffic in (10000 tons) unit

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 37 ›
4. The expansion of transport infrastructure along with investment
With economic reforms in 1978 and fiscal decentralization in the 1990s, both central and local
governments have increased the investment in various types of “transport facilities”. As Table 3 shows,
the total investment in fixed transport infrastructure was 2777.457 billion in 2015, almost 4 times the
size of the year 2005.
As the result of these investment levels, the performance of China’s transport has improved in
the last decades. All types of transport infrastructure have seen a significant increase in these years, as
can be also seen in Table 4.
Despite great efforts by the central and local governments to improve transport infrastructure,
China’s service is still insufficient to satisfy the huge demand induced by its booming economy
especially during the “Spring Festival” and the “Golden Weeks”. The traffic jams and pollution in big
cities, the inadequate basic transportation services in rural and remote areas and the problems in the
transportation of coal are among the transport problems, which have a great negative impact on the
economic development. Therefore, China’s transport system is still incapable to completely satisfy the
demand of passengers and enterprises although; it has witnessed a great improvement of its transport
facilities. Due to rapid economic growth and rapid increase demand for mobility, a new round of
transport bottlenecks is emerging. The government has then taken some initiatives to solve these
problems mentioned above.
The outline of the Thirteen Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development
approved by the Fourth Session of 12th National People's Congress makes a blueprint for the national
economic and social development in the next five years. It is pointed that the Thirteen Five-Year Plan
period China’s transport development should “build a comprehensive transportation system that
connects domestic and international transportation routes, develop modern and efficient urban
intercity transportation, develop comprehensive international hubs, make a headway in the low
carbon, smart and safe transportation. The Key development goals for transport infrastructure by
2020 (end of the 13 Th FYP period) is shown in Table 5 below.
Table 3. Investment in fixed asset in transport infrastructure
Transport infrastructure
mode
2005
2015
Highways
548,49 billion yuan
1,651.33 billion yuan
Railways
88 billion yuan
823.8 billion yuan
Waterways
68.877 billion yuan
145.717 billion yuan
Civil aviation
21.12 billion yuan
156.61 billion yuan
Total
726.587
2777.457
Note: Data for civil aviation were obtained from Civil Aviation Administration of China, The civil
aviation industry development statistical bulletin in 2015 and data for (highways, railways, and
waterways) were obtained from Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China, The
transportation industry development statistical bulletin in 2015 .
Table 4. Length of transportation routes
Year
Length of railways
in operation
(x 10000 km)
Length of highways
(x 10000 km)
Length of
navigable inland
waterways
(x 10000 km)
Length of regular
civil aviation
routes (x 10000
km)
2005
7.54
334.52
12.33
199.85
2010
9.12
400.82
12.42
276.51
2015
12.10
452.73
12.70
531.72
Note: Data for civil aviation were obtained from China Statistical Yearbook, 2016.

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 38 ›
Table 5. Key development goals for transport infrastructure by 2020 (end of the 13Th FYP
periods)
Indicators
Unit
2015
By 2020
Length of railways in
operation
‘000km
121
150
Electrified
%
61
70
Length of highways in
operation
‘000km
4,580
5,000
Coastal deep water
Unit
2,207
2,527
Number of civil airports
Unit
207
260
Conclusion
Transportation is a leading quantity to make the development of social productivity and the
improvement of science and technology. In the master plan and long run plan of national economic
and social development, transportation plan should be considered not only in the transportation mode
itself but also in the context of transportation orientation development.
Transportations of China once had a prosperous time, but it still has season, time-limiting, and
regional imbalance as major characteristics. Golden weeks transport, spring festival and transport of
migrant’s labors are the tough nuts to crack. Coal transportation from West-to-east and North-to-
South being the foremost transport of freight traffic; solutions towards the problems of transport
development aggregate, structure, quality, and efficiency must be found.
The current status of China’s transportation shows that it necessary to implement the outline of
the Thirteen Five-Year Plan which adhere to a comprehensive transportation system that connects
domestic and international transportation routes, develop modern and efficient urban intercity
transportation, develop comprehensive international hubs, make a headway in the low carbon, smart
and safe transportation.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at
http://jsdtl.sciview.net
Funding
The authors received no direct funding for this research.
Citation information
Bayane, M.B., & Yanjun, Q. (2017). Transport infrastructure development in China. Journal of
Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 29-39. doi:10.14254/jsdtl.2017.2-1.3.
References
Button, K. (1998). The good, the bad and the forgettable – or lessons the US can learn from European
transport policy. Journal of Transport Geography, 6(4), 285-294.
Civil aviation industry development statistical bulletin. (2005-2015). Civil Aviation Administration of
China.
Coyle, J.J., Bardi, E.J., & Novack, R.A. (2000). Transportation, 5th Edition. Cincinnati: South-western
College publishing.
Fan, C.C., & Sun, M. (2008). Regional inequality in China, 1978-2006. Eurasian Geography and
Economics, 49(1), 1-18.
Fan, J., Bai, B., & Pan, Q. (2004). Progress made by the study on the contribution of infrastructure
capital to economic growth – A summary of the method of production function. Modern
Economic Science, 26(2), 87–96.

ISSN 2520-2979 © Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics, 2(1), 2017
‹ 39 ›
Fan, S., & Chan-Kang, C. (2008). Regional road development, rural and urban poverty: Evidence from
China. Transport Policy, 15(5), 301-314.
Kanbur, R., & Zhang, X. (2005). Fifty years of regional inequality in China: a journey through central
planning, reform, and openness. Review of Development Economics, 9(1), 87-106.
Landers, D.S. (2001). Rich Country, Poor Country. Beijing, China: Xinhua Publishing House.
Lou, H. (2003). Study on infrastructure investment and economic growth. PhD Dissertation, Tsinghua
University.
Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China. (2005-2015). Transportation industry
development statistical bulletin 2015.
Report on World Development. (1995). World Bank.
State Statistical Bureau (SSB). (1978–2015). China statistical yearbook. Beijing: China Statistical
Publishing House.
Wang, Q.Y. (2005). On approaches and practice of comprehensive transport network planning. Journal
of Transportation Systems Engineering and Information Technology, 5(1), 11−15.
Wang, R.F., & Wang, J.J. (2006). The output elasticity and optimal scale – study based on gross
production function. Economic Science, 2.
Wei, Y.D. (1999). Regional inequality in China. Human Geography, 23(1), 49-59.
Zhang, G.W. (1991). Transportation System Analysis. Chengdu, China: Southwest Jiaotong University
Publishing House.
Zhang, X. (2009). Transport infrastructure, spillover and regional economic growth. Nanjing: Nanjing
University Press.
© 2016-2017, Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics. All rights reserved.
This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
You are free to:
Share – copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format Adapt – remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even
commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
Attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions
You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Journal of Sustainable Development of Transport and Logistics (ISSN: 2520-2979) is published by Scientific Publishing House “CSR”,
Poland, EU and Scientific Publishing House “SciView”, Poland, EU
Publishing with JSDTL ensures:
• Immediate, universal access to your article on publication
• High visibility and discoverability via the JSDTL website
• Rapid publication
• Guaranteed legacy preservation of your article
• Discounts and waivers for authors in developing regions
Submit your manuscript to a JSDTL at http://jsdtl.sciview.net/ or submit.jsdtl@sciview.net