Highway: build a hard support for the development of Longyuan

Gansu sits on Zoomlion VI, which has been the throat of the Silk Road since ancient times, an important passage connecting the Eurasian Land Bridge, and an important transportation hub connecting the southwest and northwest.

Since the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, Gansu has implemented a large number of highway construction projects, especially expressway projects, accelerated the construction of a highway network with smooth internal and external connections, comprehensively promoted the upgrading of transportation infrastructure, and consolidated the geographical advantages of connecting the east to the west and expanding the south to the north.

The plan of the year lies in the spring. Walking into the construction site of the Gansu section of the S44 Kangxian to Luoyang Expressway located in Kangxian County, Longnan City, the majority of construction personnel seized the golden construction period in spring, comprehensively accelerated the finishing work of road surface, greening, traffic safety, mechanical and electrical projects, and made every effort to promote the construction of the expressway project with a total investment of 8.249 billion yuan and a total length of 41.83 kilometers within the year.

"After the completion of the Kangluo Expressway, our province will add a new high-speed passage from Kangxian County to Hanzhong in Shaanxi, so that the Longnan Expressway network will be further optimized." Yang Yanping, head of the Kangluo Expressway Project Company of Gansu Provincial Public Transport Construction Group, introduced.

In Linxia, 400 kilometers away, the G1816 Lanyonglin Expressway, which connects many counties and cities in Lanzhou and Linxia, is also speeding up construction.

With a total length of 131.86 kilometers and a total investment of 23.867 billion yuan, Lanyonglin Expressway is a major transportation infrastructure project with the longest construction mileage and the largest investment scale in the history of Linxia Prefecture.

"After the completion of the Lanyonglin project, it will further shorten the time and space distance between Linxia and Lanzhou, reduce the pressure of traffic flow on the Lanhai Expressway, and is of great significance to promote regional economic and social development. Li Beibei, the person in charge of the 8 bid project of Lan Yonglin of the 15th Bureau of China Railway, said. On the 15th of this month, the Chuntai No. 3 Tunnel constructed by the 15th Bureau of China Railway was successfully completed, and the construction of the project made significant progress.

The Kangluo and Lanyonglin Expressway is a true portrayal of Gansu's continuous improvement of the expressway network and its deep integration into the construction of the Belt and Road Corridor and the construction of large hubs.

From the construction of the Wudu to the jar ditch highway in the Ganshan and Shaanxi borders, to the Jinchang to Alxa Right Banner Expressway in the Ganmeng boundary; From the operation of the Pengda Expressway connecting Ganning, to the Dunhuang-Dangjinshankou Expressway, which opens up the Ganqing boundary...... Since the Belt and Road Initiative, Gansu has become more and more closely connected with its surrounding areas.

Since 2021 alone, Gansu has achieved the full penetration of Gansu sections of national highways such as G69 Yinbai, G75 Lanhai, G85 Yinkun, and G3011 Liuge. At the same time, the whole line has been completed and operated S11 Jinghua Expressway, S50 Longxun Expressway Shuangcheng to Dariga section, G244 Line Liangliang to Qingcheng section and other inter-provincial high-speed corridors.

From the mountains of Longnan to the Gobi Desert in Hexi, from the loess plateau of Longdong to the vast grassland of Gannan, the thoroughfares pass through the mountains and mountains, cross the river and connect the city, and the highway network is becoming denser and denser.

According to the data, by the end of 2024, the total length of Gansu's highway network will reach 159,300 kilometers, and the density of the 100-square-kilometer road network will reach 37.4 kilometers. Among them, there are about 8,248 kilometers of high-speed and first-class highways, and 82 of the 86 counties and cities in the province have been connected to expressways, with an accessibility ratio of 95%.

The continuous improvement of the highway network has accelerated the transformation of Gansu's "channel advantage" into a "channel economy". Nowadays, the expressway service area throughout the province has been transformed into a "Longcargo Station" and has become an important display window for Gansu's high-quality characteristic agricultural products.

Along the highway extending in all directions, Tianshui's Huaniu apples and cherries are quickly transported to all parts of the country, Longnan olive oil has achieved 12 hours of direct access to Chongqing Orchard Port, Linxia fresh-cut roses to Chengdu The logistics timeliness has been increased by 40%, and Jiuquan wind power equipment can easily reach customers in Xinjiang.

Standing in a new historical stage, a new round of highway construction is being carried out in Longyuan. In May 2024, the provincial government issued the "Implementation Plan for the "Three New Expressways" in Gansu Province, announcing the start of the construction of "the new corridor of the North Hebei Expressway, the new passage of the Gansu Central South Expressway, and the new passage of the Gansu Middle East Expressway".

The total scale of the three new expressways is about 4,550 kilometers, with an estimated total investment of about 546 billion yuan, covering 12 cities and 49 counties and districts in the province, and radiating a population of about 16 million. After all are completed, the mileage of Gansu Expressway will reach 12,500 kilometers, the skeleton of the province's expressway network will be basically formed, and the high-speed road grid bureau of "provincial capital ring pass, county and county connectivity, part of the county interconnection, and three major corridors will be connected", and Gansu will be opened up to a higher level and wider fields. The implementation of the "three new expressways" has brought strong impetus to the construction of Gansu's transportation infrastructure.

Railway: Stimulate the new vitality of the Silk Road economy

More than 2,000 years ago, a camel caravan loaded with silk, porcelain, and tea crossed the Hexi Corridor and sounded camel bells, opening up a trade route between the Central Plains and the Western Regions. Entering the new era, Gansu seized the "greatest opportunity", with the support of the China State Railway Group, with unprecedented determination and strength, to promote the construction of key railway projects, and write the legend of the Silk Road in the new era on this hot land.

In December 2014, the 1,776-kilometer-long Lanxin high-speed railway, which runs through Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang, was completed and put into operation. The Lanxin high-speed railway is the first railway in Gansu Province to be completed and operated after the "Belt and Road" initiative was proposed.

On July 9, 2017, the Baolan high-speed railway was put into operation, and the western railway was fully integrated into the national high-speed rail network.

On September 29, 2017, the Lanyu Railway was put into operation, opening up a railway corridor with the shortest and most convenient distance from the northwest to the southwest sea.

On September 20, 2018, the Dunhuang Railway was completed and opened to traffic, and Dunhuang, the "Pearl of the Silk Road", ushered in EMUs.

On December 26, 2020, the Yinxi high-speed railway was put into operation, and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Revolutionary Base Area entered the era of high-speed rail.

On December 29, 2022, the Yinlan high-speed railway was completed in its entirety, and the high-speed rail connection between the capitals of Gansu and Ningxia provinces was realized

On June 29, 2024, the eastern section of the Lanzhang high-speed railway from Zhongchuan Airport to Wuwei was officially opened to traffic, ending the history of Wuwei, Tianzhu, Yongdeng and other places not being connected to high-speed rail.

Today, the operating mileage of Gansu Railway has exceeded 5,000 kilometers, an increase of 612 kilometers or 13.7% compared with the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. Among them, the high-speed rail reached 1,638 kilometers.

The completion of railway projects has further strengthened Gansu's position as a hub in the Silk Road Economic Belt. Lanzhou, the provincial capital, has become the western railway hub where 10 railway trunk lines meet, Lanzhou North Marshalling Station ranks among the top ten marshalling stations in the country, and a new pattern of railway transportation connecting Xi'an in the east, Urumqi in the west, Xining in the south, and Yinchuan in the north has taken shape.

The vigorous development of the railway network has paved the "fast lane" for Gansu's deep integration into the "Belt and Road". In Lanzhou, relying on multiple functional areas such as multimodal logistics parks, railway ports, and vehicle ports, Gansu (Lanzhou) International Dry Port has taken the lead in opening up six international trade channels in the province: Central Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan, Western Land-Sea New Channel, and Longhai Channel, and freight trains have reached more than 30 cities in 20 countries.

In November 2020, the construction of the new Tianshui-Longnan railway broke ground, and the transportation connection in the southeast of Longnan was further strengthened; In December 2021, the construction of the whole line of the Lanhe Railway will be completed, and Gannan and Linxia will bid farewell to the history of not being able to pass the railway and stride into the era of high-speed rail; In October 2022, the construction of the Gansu section of the Xicheng Railway will begin, which will be interconnected with the Lanhe Railway to form another southbound corridor in Gansu; In January 2024, the Pingliang-Qingyang railway will start construction in an all-round way, helping the economic take-off of Longdong; In December 2024, the Wuwei-Zhangye section of the Lanzhang high-speed railway will be launched, and the second high-speed rail corridor of the Hexi Corridor will enter the countdown......

Civil Aviation: Drawing a new blueprint for air opening

After more than 4 years and nearly 1,650 days and nights of hard work, on March 16, 2025, the third phase of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport was announced to be completed and put into operation.

With a total investment of 33.438 billion yuan and an area of more than 17,000 acres, the third phase of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport is the largest civil aviation airport project in the history of Gansu. The project takes 2030 as the design target year, according to the annual passenger throughput of 38 million passengers, cargo and mail throughput of 300,000 tons, aircraft take-off and landing of 300,000 flights for planning and design, the main construction content includes the construction of two new runways, the completion of 400,000 square meters of T3 terminal and 270,000 square meters of comprehensive transportation center.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, the passenger throughput of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport has continued to rise. In the three years from 2015 to 2017, it has achieved a leap from 6 million passengers to 12 million passengers, ranking among the ranks of "tens of millions" large airports. In 2019, the passenger throughput of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport crossed the 15 million mark for the first time. In 2024, the annual passenger throughput of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport will exceed 17 million, far exceeding the design scale.

From T1 to T2, and then to today's T3, the completion and operation of the third phase of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport has greatly improved the transportation capacity of Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport, which will greatly meet the needs of civil aviation transportation at present and in the future, and become a "new hub on the Silk Road" connecting the east and west, connecting the north and the south, showing Gansu culture and connecting the world in the western region.

The in-depth promotion of the construction of the "Belt and Road" has given the development of Gansu's civil aviation logistics industry wings. From the expansion of the opening of Lanzhou Air Port to foreign aircraft in December 2013, to the first flight from Lanzhou to Dubai in December 2016, and then to the first intercontinental cargo flight from Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport to Moscow in 2023...... Gansu Civil Aviation continues to deepen foreign cooperation, boosting the quality and growth of Gansu Province's foreign trade, and deepening economic and trade cooperation between Gansu and the countries that jointly build the Belt and Road.(This article is from the official website of Jiandao www.seetao.com it may not be reproduced without permission, otherwise it must be investigated, please indicate Jiandao.com + original link) Jiandao.com strategic column editor / Sun Fengjuan