The following are the key transport infrastructure projects China is set to build during the 2006-2010 period, listed in the draft guidelines of the five-year development blueprint being deliberated by Chinese lawmakers at their ongoing annual session:

 

-- Railway: six railways for passenger transportation, including one between Beijing and Shanghai; five inter-city railways, including one between Beijing and Tianjin; and the upgrading of five existing railways including one between Datong and Qinhuangdao.

 

-- Highway: 14 expressways including one from Beijing to Hong Kong and Macao.

 

-- Port: transit systems for the transportation of coal and imported oil, gas and iron ore, and containers transport systems at 12 seaports including those in Dalian, Tianjin and Shanghai; coal transit and storage bases in eastern and southern China.

 

-- Shipping: the third-phase project for dredging the deepwater channel at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the course at the mouth of the Pearl River to the sea, channel dredging in the Yangtze and Pearl River valleys and the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal; and acceleration of port construction along inland rivers.

 

-- Airport: expansion of ten airports including those in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou; relocation of the two airports in Kunming and Hefei; and airports in central, western and northeastern China to accommodate flights on feeder lines.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2006)