CRI听力:China to Develop Highly Efficient Transportation System

China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, has announced that the country's infrastructure operation network has been basically completed.

Meanwhile, China plans to construct an efficient and modern transportation system, in order to realize transport services integration.

Li Guoyong, an official of the NDRC, says China's transportation infrastructure network has been built over the past several years.

"We predict that total railway operating mileage can reach 120-thousand kilometers by the end of this year, second to the United States. At the same time, the operating mileage of the high-speed railway will boast 19-thousand kilometers, surpassing the combined total of the rest of the world."

In addition, China has also achieved a breakthrough in the reform of the transportation system, and paid much attention to the development of equipment manufacturing and personnel training.

However, Li admits that China still has a lot of room for improvement on the construction of transportation infrastructure.

"Our transportation system still has many problems; for instance, the network layout is not perfect. Especially in western China, infrastructure there is lagging behind. The construction of an integrated transport hub is still underway. The NDRC has planned the projects on building major transportation hubs for more than 40 cities, but the process is slow, due to the lack of innovation."

To solve the dilemma, Li Guoyong says the economic planner is cooperating with the China Railway Corporation and Civil Aviation Administration, aiming to create a modern transportation system and promote the modernization of transportation.

For air traffic, China has more than 200 civilian airports as of now. The airports handled nearly 830-million passenger trips as of the end of 2014. In mega cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the passenger throughputs rank among the highest in the world.

Hu Huaqing, researcher for the China Civil Aviation Science and Technology Research Institute, has affirmed that the number will increase significantly.

"By 2020, the per capita ratio of taking plane trips is expected to be 0.5 times, which means the passenger throughput of China's airports will reach up to 1.5 billion people. The number of airports nationwide is going to reach 270 from the current 202."

Hu Huaqing says that due to market demand, China's civil aviation industry will maintain strong momentum, and the scope of its service will continue to expand accordingly.

Official figures also show the mileage of expressways in China has reached 120,000 kilometers, also ranking the top in the world.

For CRI, I'm Wang Mengzhen.