Xing Huina：

Please continue to raise questions. I notice two journalists have their hands raised. 

Haibao News:

The construction of rural roads has greatly improved road infrastructure for rural people. Could you share some good practices to ensure travel safety? Thank you.

Zhou Rongfeng:

Thank you for your question. Ensuring safer and more secure travel has always been our priority. To this end, we've intensified our efforts in recent years in the following three areas:  

First, we have strengthened the safety of infrastructure. We have enforced a system for synchronizing the design, construction and the commissioning of road safety facilities with road construction projects. We have also taken solid actions to further refine the management of rural road safety facilities and traffic order. Moreover, we have prioritized rural road safety as a key component of our efforts to make transportation more people-oriented. We've also advanced the construction of the rural road travel safety project every year. Over the past decade, the rural road travel safety project has covered a total length of 1.23 million km. We have also made great efforts to refine safety facilities, including road signs, pavement markings, speed bumps and traffic lights, in a bid to improve rural road safety.

Second, we have carried out renovation and upgrading of bridges with poor technical conditions. We have made consistent efforts to strengthen bridge management and regular safety inspections for key bridges, and have implemented the 10 regulations for bridge operation safety, including strict accountability, the disclosure of information and funding guarantees. We also have carried out a series of special programs on the safety of highway bridge guardrails and the standardization of bridge information and bridge load limit signs for rural road transport. We have advanced actions to renovate old and dangerous bridges, prioritizing the repair of rural road bridges deemed to be dangerous. Over the past decade, a total of 58,000 old and dangerous bridges in the rural road network have been renovated; the total number of dangerous bridges has decreased on a yearly basis; the proportion of bridges that are in serviceable condition has increased from 83.2% to 98%.

Third, we have further improved disaster readiness and mitigation for rural road transport. We have released the Guidelines on Further Improving Disaster Readiness and Mitigation for Rural Road Transport and have strengthened public emergency management mechanisms for rural roads, enhancing disaster readiness and response capabilities of rural road networks. We have strengthened targeted inspections on key road sections during critical time periods and addressed rural road safety hazards. We have also made progress in establishing local reserve centers for highway emergency response supplies, enhancing the stockpiling capabilities for emergency response equipment, supplies and devices. We have built up rural road emergency rescue forces composed of both professionals and the general public, and have boosted their emergency response capabilities by intensifying drills for contingency plans, improving personnel training and increasing transport capacity. 

By implementing the aforementioned measures, we have been able to continuously improve the safety and traffic conditions of rural roads. Thank you.