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Speakers:

Xu Chengguang, vice minister of transport

An Lusheng, vice administrator of the National Railway Administration of China

Dong Zhiyi, vice administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China

Dai Yingjun, deputy director general of the State Post Bureau of China

Chairperson:

Xing Huina, spokesperson of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

Date:

June 10, 2022

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Xing Huina:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee. This is the seventh press conference under the theme of "China in the past decade." Today, we have invited Xu Chengguang, vice minister of transport; An Lusheng, vice administrator of the National Railway Administration of China; Dong Zhiyi, vice administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China; and Dai Yingjun, deputy director general of the State Post Bureau of China to brief you on the progress in accelerating the building of China's strength in transportation in the new era, and to take your questions.

Now, let's give the floor to Mr. Xu for his introduction.

Xu Chengguang:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. First, I would like to thank all friends from the media for your long-term interest in and support for China's transportation sector. I am very glad to meet with you here along with Mr. An Lusheng, Mr. Dong Zhiyi and Mr. Dai Yingjun, to brief you on the progress made in China's transportation sector. 

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the work on transportation, and issued important instructions on several occasions. In particular, the report of the 19th CPC National Congress proposed building China's strength in transportation, which lays out methods for developing transportation in the new era. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have successively issued the Outline on Building China's Strength in Transportation and Outline of the National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning, creating a strategic blueprint and a bright vision for the medium- and long-term development of China's transportation industry. In October last year, President Xi Jinping pointed out in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference that generation after generation of Chinese people have worked in the spirit of opening roads through mountains and building bridges over rivers, turning China into a country with vast transportation infrastructure. Today, we are redoubling our efforts to build a country with great strength in transportation. Transportation has become a frontier in China's modernization drive. The important instructions of the general secretary fully affirmed the achievements of China's transportation sector, pointed out the new goal of building China's strength in transportation, and created a new historical mission for the transportation sector. 

Looking back over the past decade, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, China's transportation industry has made historic achievements and seen historic transformations. We have accomplished many things that we were previously unable to accomplish, and have completed a host of major projects that were on the agenda but we had been unable to complete. We have achieved a historic leap from a country with a vast transportation infrastructure to building a country with great transportation strength, which has effectively fulfilled the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Over the past decade, China's comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network has taken shape, which has effectively promoted the connection of domestic and international transportation channels. We have built the world's largest high-speed railway network, expressway network, and world-class port clusters. We have opened air and sea routes that reach all parts of the world. China's high-speed rail, roads, bridges, ports and express delivery have become calling cards for the country. A large-scale and smooth integrated transportation network has supported the operation of our country, the world's second largest economy and the largest trader in goods. Transportation has shortened distances and saved time. It has accelerated the flow of goods and people, profoundly transformed the faces of urban and rural areas, and effectively boosted integrated rural-urban development. It not only effectively guarantees smooth domestic and international circulation, but also makes important contributions to the development of the world economy.

Over the past decade, our comprehensive transportation service capacity has been greatly improved, and people have a greater sense of fulfillment. The country has seen its key transportation indicators — including passenger and freight volume of railway, road, waterway and civil aviation, cargo throughput of ports and business volume of postal and express services — rank top in the world for many years. China has become one of the world's busiest countries in terms of transportation. In 2021, ports reported an average of over 69,000 ship entries and exits, airports saw some 26,800 take-offs and landings, and nearly 300 million parcels were handled on a daily basis. In the peak traveling season, passenger trains made more than 10,000 trips and expressways saw more than 60 million trips made by vehicles on average per day in 2021. The easier movement of people and smooth flow of goods have been achieved. Transportation has become one of the sectors to which people have the strongest sense of fulfillment. Well-developed transportation networks have contributed to China's increasing vibrancy.

Over the past decade, the fundamental, leading and strategic role of transportation has been given full play, strongly underpinning the implementation of national strategies. We have worked to ensure that all villages, townships and towns with the right conditions are accessible by paved roads and bus services, and delivered on our solemn commitment that no place will be left behind on the road to prosperity due to transportation issues. Transportation has effectively served the critical poverty eradication battle and the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Yangtze River Delta and other regions have been connected into the transportation network, which has promoted continuous improvements to coordinated regional development. Fixed-asset investment in transportation has been kept at a high level. Last year, it hit a record high of 3.6 trillion yuan, which played an important role in stabilizing the economy and ensuring stabilities on six key fronts (employment, the financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and expectations) and security in six key areas (job security, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food, and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary level governments). We've served to connect China with the world and keep the country in tune with the times. We have been vigorously promoting transportation connectivity, and better serving the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative. During the pandemic, while ensuring coordinated epidemic containment efforts, we have gone all out to ensure the smooth flow of logistics. The China-Europe Railway Express and ocean-going cargo vessels have been running day and night to maintain the stability of global industrial and supply chains, showcasing China's sense of responsibility in the global community.

As we embark on a new journey, we will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, continue to seize the day and forge ahead in building China's strength in transportation at a faster pace, and strive to be a pioneer in China's modernization drive.

That's all for my introduction. Now, I would like to invite Mr. An, Mr. Dong and Mr. Dai to brief you on the railways, civil aviation and postal services.

An Lusheng:

Good morning, friends from the media. I would like to add some words on the railway industry. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the railway industry has upheld Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as its guide and fully implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, making historic achievements.

The railway network has improved substantially in scale and quality over the past decade. Investment in railway fixed assets exceeded 7 trillion yuan, contributing to a mileage increase of 52,000 kilometers. China had 150,000 kilometers of railways in operation by the end of 2021, including 40,000 kilometers of high-speed railways. Railways have covered 81% of Chinese counties, and high-speed railways have covered 93% of cities with a population of 500,000 or more. A well-organized, extensive, multi-level, safe, and efficient railway network has basically taken shape.

Transportation services have also been comprehensively improved. China ranks first in the world in passenger turnover, cargo shipment, freight turnover, and transportation density by rail. Its railways have remained safe, and the green and low-carbon advantages have been given full play. Railway passenger transportation services have been upgraded. Fuxing high-speed electric multiple unit (EMU) trains have run through 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. Transportation products have become increasingly diverse, and new services, including online ticket purchase, e-tickets, and online seat selection, have been introduced, making it more convenient and comfortable for people to travel and fundamentally resolving difficulties in getting tickets. Freight volume by rail reached 4.774 billion metric tons in 2021, an increase of 22.3% over 2012. The longstanding bottleneck of railway transportation has been effectively addressed, significant progress has been made in turning from highways to railways in freight transportation, and the transportation of key materials such as grain, fertilizer, and thermal coal has been effectively guaranteed.

Railway equipment and technologies have been improved. Railway equipment has been upgraded. Fuxing EMU trains have covered different speed levels and adapted to various operating environments, and intelligent EMU trains have achieved automatic driving at 350 kilometers per hour for the first time globally. China ranks among the world's advanced in terms of railway technology overall, leads the world in technologies for high-speed, plateau, alpine, and heavy-haul railways, and has formed a technological system for high-speed railway construction and equipment manufacturing with independent intellectual property rights.

The past decade has seen new progress in railway reform. Government functions and commercial operations have been separated through the railway management system, the industry supervision system has been constantly improved, and notable achievements have been made in transforming relevant government functions and streamlining administration and delegating power. Reform of the railway investment and financing system has been deepened, and the proportion of investment in railways by local governments and private capital has been increasing. China Railway has completed the introduction of corporate systems, and a number of companies, including Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway Co., Ltd., have been listed on the stock market. Important steps have been taken in law-based and market-oriented railway reform.

New prospects have opened up in terms of international cooperation on railway construction in the past 10 years. The China-Laos Railway, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, and the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway have been put into operation successively, and the landmark project, the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway, is progressing in an orderly manner. Railway technological equipment has been exported to more than 100 countries and regions, and the whole industrial chain has gone global. More than 150 Chinese railway technological standards have been published in foreign languages. The China-Europe freight trains have reached 185 cities in 23 European countries, a major achievement and highlight of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Going forward, we will always support key national strategies, uphold a people-centered philosophy, implement the new development philosophy in a sound, accurate, and comprehensive manner, promote high-quality railway development, and be a pioneer in China's modernization drive. Thank you.

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Dong Zhiyi:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, Mr. Xu just now introduced the overall development of the transport sector since the 18th CPC National Congress, and now I would like to make a supplementary briefing on the development of civil aviation from four aspects.

First, civil aviation transportation has grown rapidly in scale. In the past decade, 82 civil airports have been built or relocated, bringing the total to 250; 3,000 new air routes have been added, bringing the total to 5,581. China has been in the top two in the world in terms of passenger traffic for 18 consecutive years. In 2019, the total turnover and passenger volume of civil aviation transportation more than doubled compared with 2012, and the volume of cargo and mail transportation was 1.3 times that in 2012. The air service network has covered 92% of prefecture-level administrative units, where 88% of China's population and 93% of China's economy is sustained.

Second, civil aviation services have been improved in quality and efficiency. The on-time flight rate has increased by 13.17 percentage points compared with 2012 and exceeded 80% for four consecutive years. The service model, featuring an interconnected civil aviation network integrating trunk lines, regional lines, and short-distance transportation of general aviation, has been implemented to promote flight services, especially to stimulate potential market demand in third- and fourth-tier cities. The proportion of passenger throughput of airports in central and western China in the whole industry has increased from 36.5% in 2012 to 45.2% in 2021. Forty-seven new transportation airports have been built in areas lifted out of poverty, with air services covering 83.6% of those same regions, an increase of 13 percentage points over 2012.

Third, civil aviation has played a prominent role in terms of strategic support. The share of civil aviation passenger turnover in the comprehensive transportation system has increased by 18 percentage points to 33.1%. China has vigorously promoted the construction of world-class airport clusters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone to support key national and regional development strategies, and four major airport clusters have preliminarily taken shape. Ten major international aviation hubs, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Xi'an, and a modern airport system consisting of 29 regional hubs have been basically established in China. At the same time, China has signed bilateral air transportation agreements with 128 countries and regions and opened 895 international routes. Its domestic airlines operate regular international flights to 153 cities in 62 countries under normal conditions. We have promoted the development of international air logistics. There are now about 5,000 international cargo flights every week, reaching 123 cities in 52 countries around the world, which effectively ensures the stability of national industrial and supply chains. At the same time, we have actively integrated into the Belt and Road initiative. We have signed bilateral air transportation agreements with 100 Belt and Road countries and maintained regular passenger and cargo flights with 64 countries, with the number of flights accounting for more than 60% of China's total international flights.

Fourth, new business models and forms in the civil aviation industry are thriving. China has planned and built nearly 80 airport economic zones, including 17 national airport economic demonstration zones. China's civil aviation industry has played a more prominent role in the transformation and upgrading of industrial structures. Our business has maintained rapid growth, with an increasing number of new business models. The average annual flight hours grew by 12.5%. China now has 339 airports for civil aviation and 3,045 general aircraft. The number of registered drones reached around 830,000, with annual flight hours exceeding 10 million. It's fair to say that the aviation industry has become a new growth point for China's economic development.

Going forward, we will earnestly implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on civil aviation, in accordance with the strategic guidance of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to push forward the plan for the development of the civil aviation industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). We will coordinate development and security, strengthen our work on risk control and management, and work to defuse potential dangers. We will ramp up efforts to ensure the civil aviation industry grows smarter. We will pursue new progress while maintaining steady growth, promote high-quality development of the civil aviation industry, and promote the building of China's strength in the civil aviation sector to a new level. Thank you.

Dai Yingjun:

Friends from the media, good morning. Now I would like to brief you on the development of China's postal and courier industry. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the State Post Bureau has adhered to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully studied and implemented the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the postal and express delivery sector, and earnestly carried out the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We made decisive progress in the three critical battles against poverty, pollution and potential risk, steadfastly deepened supply-side structural reform, and firmly took measures to facilitate smooth flows in the economy and society. The post and express delivery sector has achieved leapfrog development, and a modern postal sector has been built to meet the demands of a moderately prosperous society. China has embarked on a new journey toward building its strength in the postal sector. 

First, we continue to cement the foundation for development. We have built a nationwide postal network that is accessible in rural areas and connects the rest of the world. The delivery capacity through high-speed trains and airlines continues to expand. The application of smart facilities and equipment such as unmanned warehouses, vehicles, and drones has been expedited, with up to around 700 million parcels being handled per day. 

Second, we continue to improve public service. We worked to provide more adequate postal service in equal measures to both rural and urban areas. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), we built 8,840 postal offices at the town and township levels. As of the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), all the villages in China were accessible by postal service. The express delivery network covered almost all towns and townships, and 80% of all villages, with the annual parcel volume per capita approaching 77. User satisfaction for postal and courier services stood at a high level.

Third, we continue to enhance governance capacity. We pushed forward the adoption of the amendment to the Postal Law and introduced the Interim Regulation on Express Delivery. We accelerated the making of laws, plans, policies, and standards in the postal and courier sector that matches the high-quality development. We deepened reform to streamline administration, delegate power, and improve regulation. We worked to optimize the business environment and stimulate the vitality of market entities. We enhanced our safety oversight capability, trained a number of high-caliber personnel, and worked to better protect the rights and interests of our employees at a primary level. There was a significant improvement in the sector's culture and soft power.

Fourth, the postal and courier sector has gained more influence on the whole. Over the past decade, revenue for the sector went up from 198.09 billion yuan to 1.26 trillion yuan, registering an annual growth of 22.9%. Its share in GDP went up from 0.37% to 1.11% last year. Parcel volume increased 18 times from 5.7 billion to 108.3 billion, ranking first in the world for eight years in a row. The postal and express delivery sector has played a major role in serving major national strategies, fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensuring a stable and smooth supply chain. It also made contributions to removing impediments to major transportation arteries and facilitating circulation at the primary level. Thank you.

Xing Huina:

Thank you all for the introduction. Now the floor is open to questions. Please identify your media outlet before raising questions.

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CCTV:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has built and put into operation a significant amount of major transportation infrastructure, which not only ensured stable economic growthbut also diversified means of transportation for the people. So how has China's comprehensive transportation network developed over the past decade? What are the future work and arrangements? Thank you. 

Xu Chengguang:

Thank you for your questions. Transportation infrastructure provides an important foundation for the Party to govern and rejuvenate the country. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we have adhered to the principle of making investments as appropriate and steadily increased our input in transportation infrastructure, achieving remarkable results. 

First, the comprehensive national transportation network has been improved. We accelerated the development of eight north-south and eight east-west high-speed lines, the "71118" national expressway network, world-class port clusters, and airport clusters. The comprehensive national transportation network has a total length of over 6 million kilometers. From 2012 to the end of 2021, the length of the railway and expressway increased by 1.1 million kilometers, which is equivalent to 27.5 rounds around the equator. High-speed railways and expressways covered more than 95% of cities with a population of over 200,000 in China. 

Second, the capacity of transportation infrastructure to serve national strategies has been enhanced. The development of the rail transit in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is on a fast track. A comprehensive transportation corridor has taken shape along the Yangtze River Economic Belt. In the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay area, the commute between Guangdong and Hong Kong or Macao has been shortened to one hour. We have stepped up the building of the shipping hub connecting the Yangtze River Delta to the world. A trans-regional grand channel in the Yellow River basin has been built. We further promoted the integrated development of the transportation network in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle. 

Third, the pace of transformation and upgrading of transport infrastructure has been accelerated. The digitization of transportation infrastructure keeps improving, and a national network of expressways has been put in place. The construction of the digital waterway chart database has covered the trunk lines of the Yangtze River and Xijiang River, and our capacity in core technologies, such as bridge-and-tunnel sea crossings and deep-water channels, are at the world's forefront.

In April, General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired the 11th meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs. The meeting discussed issues about comprehensively strengthening infrastructure construction and made key plans on speeding up the construction of national integrated multidimensional transportation networks. We will fully implement the principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important remarks. We will work in accordance with the targets and tasks set in the outline in building China's strength in transportation and the outline on developing national integrated multidimensional transportation networks, focus on enhancing interconnectivity, shoring up weak links and consolidating strong links, and expedite the building of the modern and high-quality integrated multidimensional transportation networks.

First, a highly efficient framework of the integrated multidimensional transportation networks will be established, which features "six axes, seven corridors, and eight channels." A similar transport hub system will also be developed to ensure economic connectivity in different regions.

Second, transport infrastructure in key regions will be improved to better support the implementation of national strategies. Transportation conditions in old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority areas, border areas, and rural areas are expected to see further improvement.

Third, a safe and reliable network of logistics and supply chains will be put in place in a bid to smooth domestic transportation, promote the development of global logistics and supply-chain systems, and stabilize industrial and supply chains.

Fourth, the digital transformation and smart upgrading of transport infrastructure will be accelerated, and green transport infrastructure will be further rolled out. We will also boost the integrated development of transport facilities and those concerning energy supplies, waterways, and information.

In the spirit of making appropriate and forward-looking plans, we are currently stepping up the construction of a series of strategic engineering projects, such as the Sichuan-Tibet Railway and its supporting highway project, the passageway between Xinjiang and Tibet, the canal project of the new western sea-land transportation channel, the container terminal in northern Xiaoyangshan island, as well as the waterway and aviation facilities of Ningbo Zhoushan Port and its integrated transport hub. These projects have offered support to stabilize investment, expand domestic demand, boost employment, ensure people's livelihood, and maintain stable macroeconomic performance. Thank you.

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Cover News:

Over the past decade, China has built Beijing Daxing International Airport and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport. As an important part of the integrated transportation system and a key infrastructure of air transport, civil transport airports have seen remarkable progress in their construction. What are the major moves next concerning the construction of infrastructure in the civil aviation sector? Are there any highlights that we can look forward to? Thank you.

Dong Zhiyi:

Thank you for your questions. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China's civil aviation sector has worked to support the implementation of major national strategies and regional coordinated development. We keep strengthening infrastructure construction in the civil aviation sector, and our supporting capacity continues to improve. Over the past decade, China's fixed-asset investment in the civil aviation sector has reached 800 billion yuan. That figure continued to exceed the 100-billion-yuan threshold in 2020 and 2021, hitting a record high. With 67 transport airports built and 15 more relocated in the past decade, the total number of transport airports in the country has been brought to 250. China also added 84 new runways, 8 million square meters of terminal buildings, and 3,000 aircraft stands. The total designed capacity of domestic airports can handle more than 1.4 billion passenger trips, which effectively mitigated the problem of shortage in airport facilities.

In the meantime, we have sped up the construction of modern integrated transport hubs centered around airports. The connectivity of hub airports and rail transit has reached 71.4%. We have also established and put into operation three world-leading air traffic control centers, namely the civil aviation operation management center, the aviation weather center, and the flight information management center. This remarkably improved our capacity to provide related services. In addition, we promoted the building of civil aviation safety test bases and sci-tech demonstration zones, and our ability to support scientific research and innovation saw remarkable improvement.

The 14th Five-Year Plan period is vital for China to upgrade from a single air transport powerhouse to one with civil aviation strength in multiple fields. The construction of civil aviation infrastructure will focus on breaking the bottlenecks in resource capacity, highlight an innovation-driven approach, and improve both quality and efficiency and build up synergy in a bid to establish a first-class civil aviation infrastructure system. The focuses of development are as follows:

First, we need to speed up the efforts to improve the modern and integrated national airport system. Focusing on expediting the building of hub airports, optimizing the layout of non-hub airports, improving the quality and efficiency of existing facilities, and building integrated airport transport hubs, we will continue to scale up investment, increase the supply of high-quality facilities, break bottlenecks in the hub's transport capacity, and further improve the quality of the integrated national airport system.

Second, we need to effectively improve the support and service capacity of air traffic control. With an aim to build a modern air traffic control system featuring great safety, efficiency, intelligence, and coordination, we need to enhance the capacity for air traffic control forces, improve the efficiency of their services, and enhance the traffic control ability of small and medium-sized airports. We also need to expedite the digital transformation of air traffic control and strengthen its leading and supportive role for the entire sector.

Third, we need to enhance the supportive role of science and education facilities. Focusing on the civil aviation industry's major demand and bottlenecks in the development and relevant cutting-edge technologies, we need to launch sci-tech innovation projects, establish sci-tech innovation platforms, improve the education facilities of civil aviation universities, develop key talented personnel for the sector at an accelerated pace, and improve the supply of talented personnel.

Fourth, we will steadily advance the construction of new type of infrastructure. We will further focus on the main task of developing intelligent civil aviation in the Special Plan for Passenger Services of Air Transport during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and implement the road map for intelligent civil aviation construction. Aiming at enhancing capacities for "digital perception, decision-making based on data, lean management, and meticulous services," we will coordinate the development of traditional and new types of infrastructure, build a foundation for a modern air transport system, and foster and develop new forms of business, new services, and new abilities so as to improve the quality and efficiency of the industry and expand the driving force for its development. 

This year marks an important year for fully implementing the 14th Five-Year Plan. The civil aviation industry increased investment in fixed assets and steadily promoted the development of airports, air traffic management, relevant science and education, and other major projects. From January to May, the investment in fixed assets across the whole industry reached 34.32 billion yuan, up by 6.6% year on year. It can be said that we got off to a good start. Thank you.

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The Paper.cn:

General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions on the good building, management, maintenance, and operation of rural roads in 2014, 2016, and 2017, respectively. How has the Ministry of Transport promoted the high-quality development of the rural roads? Recently, the Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs of the Central Committee of the CPC and a State Council executive meeting made new arrangements for rural road construction and added new tasks to this year's original targets. How will the tasks be implemented next? Thank you.

Xu Chengguang: 

Thank you for your question. The project of building, managing, maintaining, and operating rural roads was summarized, proposed, arranged, and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping. The project is vital to improving people's livelihood and delivering good governance, which has gained public support. The implementation of this project will not only boost the economic development of rural areas, especially those in poverty, but also promote equity and shared benefits between urban and rural areas so as to help achieve common prosperity and inclusive development. 

Since the Party's 18th National Congress, the Ministry of Transport has thoroughly implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on rural roads to promote their high-quality development. 

First, the rural highway network has basically taken shape. Over the past decade, the central government has invested 743.3 billion yuan of vehicle purchase tax in rural highways, 506.8 billion yuan of which has been used in poor areas. A total of 2.53 million km of rural highways have been built or upgraded, making 1,040 townships and towns as well as 105,000 administrative villages accessible by paved roads. The total length of rural highways increased from 3.564 million kilometers at the end of 2011 to 4.466 million kilometers at the end of 2021, a net increase of more than 900,000 kilometers. 

Second, the highway conditions in rural areas have been constantly improved. The system of road chiefs at village, township, and county levels has been established. By the end of 2021, the paving rate, maintenance rate, and rate of rural highways evaluated as excellent, good, and medium increased to 89.8%, 99.5%, and 87.4%, respectively, which is basically equivalent to the service capacity of trunk highways in the country. 

Third, the transport services have been greatly refined. More than 50,000 extra administrative villages have been accessible by bus, and all administrative villages with the right conditions now have bus services. The dream of rural people enjoying convenient bus services has become a reality. In rural areas, the integrated development of passenger, freight and mail routes has also been significantly boosted, and transport services have been basically ensured. 

Fourth, transport has played a remarkable role in alleviating poverty and advancing prosperity. The integrated development of transport and e-commerce, as well as goods exchanged between cities and the countryside have facilitated the flow of people, goods, and capital between urban and rural areas, increasing rural incomes. A total of 774,000 rural highway-related jobs were created, with an average annual income of more than 13,000 yuan, and 381,000 people lifted out of poverty have taken such jobs. It can be said that in the past decade, the good building, management, maintenance, and operation of rural roads have brought about great changes in rural areas, which has made the countryside more prosperous and beautiful, brought vitality and wealth to rural areas, especially poor regions, and helped the Party gain more public support at the primary level. 

Next, we will follow the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and actively and steadily build, manage, maintain, and operate rural roads. After completing the original annual targets of rural highways ahead of schedule, we will launch a new round of rural road construction and renovation efforts to build or upgrade an additional 30,000 kilometers of rural highways, implement a safety and life protection project along 30,000 kilometers of them, and renovate 3,000 dilapidated bridges on rural roads. With this on top of the original targets, it is expected that 150,000 kilometers of rural highways will be built or upgraded, 80,000 kilometers will see the implementation of a safety and life protection project, and 8,000 dilapidated bridges on rural highways will be refurbished within the year so as to provide more effective transport support for rural revitalization and common prosperity. Thank you.

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China News Service:

In the last decade, more and more people have chosen to use postal express services, with the average annual delivery volume per capita exceeding 70 parcels. What role has the postal express industry played in serving production, promoting consumption, and smoothing circulation? Thank you. 

Dai Yingjun:

Thank you for your question. As one of the country's important strategic infrastructures and social organization systems, the postal system has played a positive role in serving production, promoting consumption, and smoothing circulation, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects: 

First, it has provided strong support for implementing national policies, benefiting the people, and facilitating business. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the postal network has been rapidly channeled to lower levels, realizing the establishment of postal offices in every township and the accessibility of postal services in every village. This has effectively guaranteed the smooth transmission and implementation of Party's and national policies, met people's need for postal services, and served poverty alleviation and rural revitalization strategies. At present, China has postal routes (one-way) of more than 10 million kilometers in total, an express service network (one-way) of more than 40 million kilometers in total, and 413,000 postal express outlets. The extensive postal express network has provided an important guarantee for the development of a unified domestic market. 

Second, the postal and courier sector facilitates the integrated development of industries. In terms of integrated development with modern agriculture, it has cultivated over 1,000 "One City, One Product" projects where post and express deliveries serve the transport of agricultural products to the cities, among which there are 100 gold medal projects, defined as those with an annual business volume of over 10 million packages. Among them, there may be projects in the hometowns of our friends from the media here, such as flowers and trees in Suqian, Jiangsu province, luoshifen rice noodles in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, dried seafood in Rizhao, Shandong province, and citrus sinensis in Huaihua, Hunan province. There are also apples in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, and so on. In a word, there are cherries in the north, passion fruit in the south, kiwi fruit in the west, and dried seafood in the east. If you are interested, you can visit the State Post Bureau's website, where we have a post and express delivery map of the agricultural products across the country. In terms of the integrated development with manufacturing, it has developed models such as inbound logistics and the integration of warehousing and distribution, which has improved the service capacity of supply chains. In terms of integrated development with e-commerce, the postal and courier sector has accelerated the commodity circulation and become the main channel for serving e-commerce users. In addition, the online retail sales of physical goods supported by the postal and courier sector have exceeded 10 trillion yuan. 

Third, the postal and courier sector provides a vivid footnote for the "ubiquity" of express delivery. Since the Party's 18th National Congress, benefits of the policies in this sector have been continuously released. Automation and smart technology have been widely adopted. Major reductions in logistics costs have been achieved. And the scale advantage has become more evident. All of these have strongly supported the rapid development of various e-commerce businesses and greatly facilitated people's online shopping. Express delivery has reached thousands of households and has increasingly become a way of life and an important symbol of smooth economic flows.

Fourth, the postal and courier sector provides independent and controllable channels for domestic and international circulations. We are actively promoting the development of international delivery services, advancing the development of cross-border logistics networks, and accelerating the construction of international postal express-delivery hub clusters. By strengthening the cross-border services covering the complete supply chain, the sector is making contributions to the safety of international supply chains and the creation of a new pattern of development. Thank you.

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Yicai:

Just now, in the speaker's introduction, he mentioned that by the end of 2021, China's total railway operational length had reached 150,000 kilometers, covering 81% of the counties nationwide. What role has the railway played in underpinning the country's economic and social development and the creation of a new pattern of development? What will be done next to promote the high-quality development of the railway system? Thank you.

An Lusheng:

Thanks for your question. The railway serves as the artery for the national economy. Bearing in mind the country's most fundamental interests, we have given full play to the role of the railway as a pioneer and backbone of development, advancing the implementation of national strategies and socio-economic development, which is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:

First, we have accelerated the construction of railway networks to promote the implementation of major national strategies. To serve poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, we have sped up railway development in central and western regions as well as impoverished areas, and have increased investment to support construction. By the end of 2021, the western region had gained 23,000 kilometers of new railways compared with 2012. To serve regional development, we have optimized the layout of railway networks in key regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone to help create city clusters. To serve the Belt and Road Initiative, we have successively opened the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, and the China-Laos Railway; continued to promote cooperation in overseas railway projects; and advanced the high-quality development of the land-sea transit routes for the western region. Over the past decade, the "Four Vertical and Four Horizontal" High-Speed Rail Network has been completed, and the "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" High-Speed Rail Network has started construction, which strongly supports the major national strategies.

Second, we have been strengthening transport capacity to contribute to sound economic and social development. Over the past decade, the railway's transport capacity has seen a marked growth, providing reliable transport guarantee for the steady operation of the national economy. Eighty percent of railway freight is used to transport key materials for the national economy and people's livelihood, such as coal, fertilizer, grain, and oil. At the same time, new freight products, including high-speed rail freight, cold chain transportation, and container trains, have been launched, and an efficient logistics service system has taken shape, which better meets the logistics needs of the people. The number of China-Europe freight train trips totaled 55,000, which has effectively ensured the smooth operation of the foreign trade industry and supply chains, making positive contributions to promoting international and domestic economic flows.

Third, we have improved the transport services to raise public satisfaction. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the number of passenger trains in operation has increased by 1.4 times, solving the severe shortage of transport capacity during the travel rush. Fuxing bullet trains have been covering more train trips, accounting for 73.6 percent of the total passenger trips in 2021. For the people, travel service has developed from "accessible" in the past to "comfortable" at present. Public welfare transportation has been continuously improved, with "slow trains" benefiting people along the railways. With the improvement of railway services, Chinese people have a stronger sense of gain, happiness, and security. Taking high-speed trains to tour China has become emblematic of ordinary people enjoying a better life. 

Next, to promote the high-quality railway development, we will mainly focus on the following three aspects:

First, we will advance railway construction in a scientific and orderly manner. We will launch of a series of major projects in the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" High-Speed Rail Network will be improved, and the layout of the standard railway network will be optimized. The problem of inadequate rail links in western China will be solved. We will vigorously develop intercity railways and urban railways and build integrated comprehensive transport hubs.

Second, we will keep up our efforts to improve the quality of transport. We will comprehensively refine the layout of freight lines, vigorously develop the integrated transport system, and continue to promote the adjustment of the mix of transport. We will ensure the operation of high-speed railways according to design standards and continuously promote the digital and intelligent transport services. 

Third, we will unswervingly promote safety in railway development. We will consolidate the foundation for workplace safety, improve safety management, and strengthen safety governance along the railway lines to ensure the sustained, steady and safe operation of the railway. Thank you.

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CNBC:

The recent aircraft and railway accidents are the first domestic accidents to have taken place in several years. What will be done to investigate the cause of the accidents? What measures will be taken, and what investment will be made to ensure passengers' safety? Thank you.

Dong Zhiyi:

Thank you for your question. After the China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 aircraft accident on March 21, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) launched a technical investigation of the accident in accordance with China's relevant laws and regulations as well as the Conventions on International Civil Aviation. On April 20, we released a preliminary report and gave a briefing on the investigation of the accident. At present, investigators are carrying out in-depth examination of debris and material evidence, flight-data analysis, experimental verification, and other related work in strict accordance with the investigation procedures. As the investigation proceeds, the CAAC will release the latest progress and relevant information in accordance with laws and regulations in a timely and accurate manner. 

After the aircraft accident on March 21, the CAAC immediately launched the safety overhaul of the civil aviation sector, focusing on six aspects: understanding and thinking; selection of officials; implementation of rules, regulations, and standards; management chains; capacity of logistics; and delivery of duties. Fully implementing the instructions of leaders of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on ensuring safety in the civil aviation sector and organizing study sessions on the guiding principles of the national teleconference on workplace safety, the CAAC divided the rules of workplace safety into 15 hard measures in line with the plans made by the Work Safety Commission of the State Council. Since, we have been strengthening the screening of potential safety hazards in the civil aviation sector, launching a special campaign to prevent and defuse major risks. In particular, the CAAC recently initiated a whistleblower campaign in the civil aviation sector. The campaign aims to strengthen the oversight of officials and staff at all levels involving safety in the civil aviation sector and to fully mobilize workers on the ground to engage in security management and report safety hazards so that risks in aviation operations can be directly identified and prevented in a timely manner. 

Safety is the lifeline of the civil aviation sector. In line with the principle of putting people and their lives first, China will take comprehensive measures to improve safety in the civil aviation sector and proactively forestall major risks to ensure the absolute safety of airline operations and people's lives. 

An Lusheng:

I would like to add a few words. The bullet train D2809 from Guiyang to Guangzhou derailed at 10:22 a.m. on June 4 in a tunnel approaching Rongjiang Station, southwest Guizhou province, leaving one train driver died, and 12 others injured. Among the injured were two train attendants and 10 passengers. We felt deeply distressed to hear the accident. The national railway operator immediately launched an emergency response after the accident, sending a working group to the scene and making all-out efforts to rescue and assist in the aftermath with local governments. A preliminary probe showed that two of the bullet train's carriages came off the tracks at a point that had been covered by mud and rockslides caused by continuous rainfall and short periods of heavy rainfall in the area. The train was traveling at a very high speed.

After the accident, the railway sector launched safety inspections during flood season, with special attention to key areas and routes, such as tunnel entrances and sharp slopes. We also improved the alert system, enhancing monitoring of natural disasters, implementing a reporting system regarding railway safety, and establishing a communication mechanism between the railway and the public security departments, aiming to build a safety barrier during flood season to ensure safe travel. Thank you.

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China Transport News:

Waterway transportation plays an important role in China's comprehensive transportation network. In recent years, waterway transportation elements such as China ports, automated terminals, marine patrol ships, and China Rescue and Salvage of Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China have been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Would you like to introduce us to the development of China's waterway transportation over the past decade? What will be the next focus? Thank you.

Xu Chengguang:

Thank you for your questions. Waterway transportation has several obvious advantages in terms of being able to transport large volumes of goods at low cost and in a green and low-carbon manner. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has developed into a major water transport country of significant influence around the world.

First, the waterway transportation infrastructure system has seen accelerated improvement. Its overall size remains the largest in the world. By the end of 2021, China had 128,000 kilometers of navigable inland waterways, including over 16,000 kilometers of high-grade inland waterways, as well as 20,867 operative berths, including 2,659 10,000-tonne class berths or above, basically forming world-class port clusters. These include the clusters around Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, all of which are the most economically dynamic regions in our country.

Second, the scale and structure of transport capacity have been constantly improved. By 2021, China had 126,000 transport vessels with a net load of 284 million tons, a handling capacity of 2.884 million TEUs containers, and 858 million passengers. The large-scale, specialized, and standardized development of ships has accelerated in recent years. The capacity of the shipping fleet controlled by China is 350 million deadweight tons, ranking second in the world. China has more than 1.8 million registered crew members, of which nearly 140,000 are sent abroad every year, ranking among the top in the world.

Third, the service quality has been constantly improved. China's ports for container throughput and cargo throughput are ranked seventh and eighth in the world, respectively. Among them, the Shanghai Port, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, and Shenzhen Port have topped the table in container throughput for several consecutive years. In terms of port loading efficiency, the average operation time of China's main ports is significantly outperformed that of foreign countries. For example, statistics show that in May this year, the average in-port time and berthing time for vessels in domestic container ports were 1.98 days and 1.04 days, respectively, significantly lower than the average 3.3 and 2.4 days in major foreign container ports. There are 10 automated terminals in China and eight under construction, ranking first in the world. The fourth phase terminal of Shanghai Yangshan Port is the largest single terminal in the world, with the highest degree of comprehensive automation and fully independent intellectual property rights. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the supply chain of China's water transportation and logistics has been stable and smooth, ensuring smooth flow of the country's exports and imports, contributing to the stability of the global industry and supply chains.

Fourth, steady progress has been made in waterway transportation. We put people and life first and launched special campaigns to address dangerous cargo operations at ports, ship collisions with bridges, and strengthen prevention and control of safety risks for water transportation and fishing vessels. The number of water traffic accidents, the toll of dead missing, the number of sunken ships, and direct economic losses decreased by 52.2% , 44.8%, 72.1%, and 51.6%, respectively, compared to 10 years ago. In addition, the emergency rescue capability has been continuously improved. In past years, China has properly handled the Eastern Star cruise capsizing, the Sanchi oil tanker collision, and participated in the salvage mission of the sunken ROK Sewol ferry, demonstrating China's responsibility as a major country.

Going forward, we will, in accordance with overall development and security requirements, strive to enhance the safety and resilience of waterway transport, improve its quality, efficiency, and momentum to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results in waterway transportation development, and work to accelerate the building of China's water transportation industry. Thank you.

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The Beijing News:

We noticed that smart civil aviation was designated as a main theme of the industry according to plans on civil aviation development in the 14th Five-Year Plan issued earlier this year. What was the thinking behind this? What are the targets and focuses for the future development of smart civil aviation? And, in which aspects will the Civil Aviation Administration of China further promote its smart development? Thank you.

Dong Zhiyi:

That's a very good question. As we know, the new round of the IT-led and smart-based sci-tech revolution and industrial reforms are in full swing, especially in the application of a variety of new technologies, which are completely reshaping the form, model and pattern of the civil aviation industry. For us, we should earnestly uphold the principle of "giving top priority to the people" and "having the people's aviation serve the people." Specifically, we should conform to the historic trend to explore a wise development path in areas from aircraft manufacturing to flight operation, from air traffic to ground security, and from organizational management to providing service and products.

Therefore, based on the research and judgment of the situation and tasks in the coming five years, we made building smart civil aviation a main theme of the industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, with the aim of establishing an intelligent system that can "thoroughly perceive, widely interconnect, wisely coordinate and openly share." We will transform its development model, and make the foundation more secure, operation more efficient, transportation service more convenient, and governance system much improved. In particular, this January we issued a roadmap for building a smart civil aviation industry, further proposing smart air transportation and the coordinated aviation industry as our main tasks. Specifically, smart air transportation focuses on "smart travel, smart air traffic control, smart airports and smart supervision," which aims to make security checks more efficient, customs clearance faster, transfers smoother, "filling vacant seats," as well as creating a convenient and comfortable passenger service system and an efficient air logistics service system. It will improve the operation capacity and service level of air traffic featuring a comprehensive, refined and intelligent function, promote coordinated airport operation, people-centered services, intelligent operation, and digital construction and maintenance so as to build an integrated and innovative digital government and supervision platform. Meanwhile, industry coordinated development refers to incorporating 5G, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, big data, artificial intelligence and other digital industry applications to civil aviation through building a "civil aviation + digital industry" community, "civil aviation + advanced manufacturing" industrial chains, as well as a "civil aviation + green low-carbon" ecosystem to link the whole industry chain of advanced equipment manufacturing, maintenance and operation. We will also use green technologies, sustainable fuels and new energy equipment to realize the deep integration among industries and sectors and pursue the industry's high-quality development.

At present, the building of smart civil aviation has achieved initial success in its mechanism guarantee, top-level design, standard formulation, demonstration and application. For example, 234 airports across the country have provided passengers with paperless travel, and 40 airports with annual passenger numbers exceeding 10 million have brought in "easy security check-in" services, increasing the efficiency of check-in by 30%. In addition, the luggage tracing system has upgraded its network via radio frequency identification. Through these smart functions, the efficiency of civil aviation has been greatly enhanced and its services have been significantly improved. Next, we will continue to push forward the smart development of civil aviation from the following four aspects according to public concerns:

First, we will implement civil aviation's roadmap for smart development and turn specific scenario applications into projects and engineering approaches.

Second, we must pay close attention to and exceed with basic research on key points, tackle the problems hindering development, promote the deep reform of civil aviation, and form a good policy environment to secure the construction of smart civil aviation.

Third, we must improve the management and control of data resources, improve the standards and specifications of data-based governance, smooth the interaction path of data, deepen data analysis capabilities, and effectively unleash the value of data.

Fourth, we must strengthen talent support. We must cultivate versatile personnel suitable for developing smart civil aviation, and cultivate backbone employees, experts and scholars with innovative abilities, so as to build a professional team with strong professional skills and high professional quality. Thank you.

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Beijing Youth Daily:

My questions are about the postal and express delivery industry. China has built a modern postal industry compatible with the country's moderately prosperous society. What is the gap between this postal and express delivery industry and the people's new demands and expectations for a fine postal service? What plans do we have, and what measures will we take to address the shortcomings? Thank you.

Dai Yingjun:

Thank you for your questions. With years of rapid development, the postal and express delivery industry has made great achievements. However, we must see that unbalanced and insufficient development is still the main problem faced by China's postal and express delivery industry. It is essentially a problem of low development quality. This is mainly reflected in the following areas:

First, the basic capabilities need to be improved at an accelerated rate. The comprehensive logistics capacity is not strong enough. The cross-border logistics supply chain is not independent and controllable enough. The role of the national strategic infrastructure is not fully played.

Second, the service quality needs to be quickly improved. Some enterprises are relatively extensive in operation and management. They are not deeply embedded in the industrial chain. Their service quality is unstable, their mid-to-high-end supply is insufficient, and their operations remain at the mid-to-low end of the value chain.

Third, the governance capacity needs to be quickly improved. Governance capabilities do not fit the scale and development of the industry, and security and emergency support need to be further improved.

On the new journey, the State Post Bureau will continue to adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and resolutely implement the requirements of "grounding our work in the new stage of development, fully and faithfully applying the new development philosophy, and fostering a new pattern of development, so as to promote high-quality development." We will take it as our responsibility to better meet the needs of the people for a better postal service in life, and focus on promoting the following work:

First, we will speed up the construction of high-level hub networks. We will focus on enhancing the ability to coordinate development with comprehensive transport hubs, promote the building of various postal and express delivery hubs, speed up the pace of building an international mailing and delivery network, and continue to improve the capability and the radiating and driving role of international hubs at home and abroad. We will strengthen the building of sorting and processing centers and intelligent mailing and delivery facilities for the public express delivery industry. We will continue to promote infrastructure construction in the central and western regions, accelerate the integration of the three-level mailing and delivery service system in counties, townships and villages, and build village-level comprehensive mailing and delivery service stations.

Second, we shall accelerate the construction of high-level service capabilities. We will promote the cost division, service hierarchy and product classification of the express delivery business, and steadily realize reasonable pricing, high quality and fair price. We will support the development of precise services such as appointment delivery, relocation delivery, and time-changing delivery, comprehensively use drones and unmanned vehicles, and encourage contactless delivery. We will deeply implement the "two-intos and one-out" program, focusing on continuous improvement of quality and efficiency in terms of "express delivery services launched into villages", accelerating the formation of scale in terms of "express delivery service into enterprises", and ensuring safety and reliability in terms of "express delivery out to the overseas."

Third, we will speed up the building of high-efficiency governance capabilities. We will strengthen the administration of postal services in accordance with the law and improve the regulation and policy system. We will strengthen comprehensive governance and continuously improve the mechanism of departmental coordination, multi-party co-governance, and dual management. We will enrich governance methods, improve the oversight model using randomly selected inspectors to inspect randomly selected entities and requiring the prompt release of results, carry out credit supervision, joint supervision, classified supervision, and list-based supervision, and enhance the ability to supervise the whole chain during and after the event. We will strengthen information disclosure and play a guiding role. We will guide enterprises to improve the modern enterprise system and strengthen standardized internal management. We will conduct strict accountability for safe production and take multiple measures to improve intrinsic safety. At the same time, we will strengthen the construction of an emergency management system and enhance emergency support capabilities.

Through the 14th Five-Year Plan and the construction of the postal industry when building China into a country with great transport strength in the future, we will surely be able to see an enterprising and more satisfactory postal and express delivery industry. Thank you.

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Beijing Office of Changjiang Daily:

One of China's successful examples of independent innovation is the high-speed train, an outstanding Chinese business card. What scientific and technological innovations has China's railway achieved in recent years? What measures will be taken in the next step to promote railway technology innovations? Thank you.

An Lusheng:

Thank you for your questions. In recent years, the railway industry has forged a road of independent innovation in promoting scientific and technological innovation, focusing on promoting independent R&D and industrial application of key technologies. At present, the overall technical level of railways has entered the world's advanced ranks, and in some fields, the technologies have reached the world's leading level, which provide all-round scientific and technological support for the development of China's railways. The results can be summarized in three aspects:

First, the equipment technology level is leading the world. We have successfully developed the Fuxing, the China-standard EMU train, with independent intellectual property rights, and formed a product lineup of EMUs at the speeds of 160, 250 and 350 kilometers per hour. The Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway realized the commercial operation of autonomous driving at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour for the first time in the world. The high-speed maglev transport system with a speed of 600 kilometers per hour, the variable-gauge high-speed EMU with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour, and the high-speed freight EMU with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour have all successfully rolled off the production line.

Second, the project construction technology system is complete. China has mastered a complete set of high-speed railway construction technologies in complex conditions, and framed heavy-haul railway construction technology systems covering various axle load levels. We have resolved problems in key technologies, including the construction of super-long span bridges, and developed a wide-ranging and interwoven railway network.

Third, operational security has been significantly improved. China has mastered high-density cross-line transport scheduling technology for high-speed trains in complex railway network conditions, leading the world in transport density and train punctuality. We have developed a three-pronged security system consisting of personnel, physical and technical protection, providing strong support for continuous railway safety.

Next, the railway department will adopt four measures for sci-tech innovation. First, we will improve our comprehensive strength in survey and design to make breakthroughs in key technologies of project construction in complex and dangerous mountainous areas so as to support the construction of major national projects. Second, we will promote the development of higher-speed smart bullet trains and advanced carrying equipment to frame an advanced, applicable, complete and controllable railway equipment system. Third, we will further integrate the cutting-edge technologies, including the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and the 5G technology, into the railway sector for convenient passenger transport, freight logistics, and efficient scheduling. Fourth, we will develop and apply key technologies that can reduce comprehensive railway energy consumption, strengthen ecological protection and restoration, reduce pollutant emissions, etc., to build a higher level of green ecological railways. Thank you.

Xing Huina:

The last question, please.

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CNR:

Transport is related to each of us. It is a sector where people can have the strongest sense of gain. What efforts has the Ministry of Transport made over the past decade to improve people's travel experience and the quality of transport services? What considerations will come next? Thank you.

Xu Chengguang:

Thank you for your questions. Transport and logistics indeed have a bearing on the national economy and people's livelihoods, connecting both production and consumption. They are closely related to each of us.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the transport industry has acted via a people-centered development philosophy to give priority to serving economic development and improving people's livelihoods, and strived to develop the transport to the satisfaction of the people.

First, we have given priority to improving service supply capability. By the end of 2021, the number of commercial passengers had reached 8.303 billion, and the commercial cargo volume 52.16 billion metric tons. To be specific, high-speed train passengers made 2.53 billion trips, five times the number in 2012. The length of expressways that opened to traffic exceeded 160,000 kilometers, and the density of the highway network reached 55 kilometers per 100 square kilometers, up 24.6% from that in 2012. At roughly 95%, shipping makes up the lion's share of China's foreign trade cargo transport. China's international shipping volume accounts for one-third of the global shipping volume.

Second, we have paid more attention to ensuring equal transport services that benefit everyone. We have stepped up efforts to boost the integration of urban and rural transport. With rural-urban buses, inter-city buses and rural buses, more and more rural residents enjoy the same travel services as urban residents. Public transport services ranked first in the satisfaction score of the national public service quality monitoring in 2021.

Third, we have continued to focus on improving the quality of transport services. By the end of 2021, a total of 51 cities nationwide had operational urban rail transit, the total mileage of which increased by 4.2 times compared with that in 2012. We have promoted paperless travel, with e-tickets basically covering all railways and civil aviation. We have accelerated the improvement of the travel service system for the elderly to help them buy tickets. Ride-hailing services now cover more than 300 cities at and above the prefecture level in China, with average daily orders standing at about 21 million. Customized passenger transport services have been launched in 27 provinces, effectively satisfying people's needs for door-to-door travel services.

Fourth, regarding the supply of transport products, we have paid more attention to providing rich and diversified services. We have promoted one-stop travel services, accelerated the development of air-rail combined transport, and realized mutual recognition of railway and urban rail transit security checks at many passenger transport hubs. We have sped up the development of multimodal transport to ensure full service across the whole process with a waybill once commissioned. In 2021, the rail-water combined transport services delivered 7.54 million TEUs, with an average annual growth of 23.8%.

Next, we will continue to build an express transport network for travels and logistics at home and abroad, accelerate the development of intermodal passenger transport and multimodal cargo transport, and create a convenient, smooth, cost-effective, open and shared, green, smart, safe, reliable, modern, and comprehensive transport service system to improve people's sense of gain, happiness, and security. Thank you.

Xing Huina:

Today's briefing is hereby concluded. Thank you to all speakers and friends from the media. 

Translated and edited by Zhang Jiaqi, Zhou Jing, Zhu Bochen, Zhang Junmian, Xu Xiaoxuan, Liu Sitong, Xu Kailin, Liu Qiang, Ma Yujia, Li Huiru, Zhang Tingting, Wang Yiming, Chen Xia, Zhang Rui, He Shan, Cui Can, Wang Qian, David Ball, Jay Birbeck and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.