Artery that provides an economic lifeline

"G2 is a road toward wealth for us," Zhu said. "We used to sell our vegetables in nearby markets only, so we couldn't make that much money. The G2 helps us to get our products to Beijing, a much better market."

Because of the convenient transport from Beijing to Tianjin, collaboration between the two cities is growing. In the past seven years, more than 1,000 projects from Beijing have been set up in Wuqing, with total investment of more than 50 billion yuan.

"Wuqing has been working on building platforms on research, manufacturing, marketing and financing sectors for the commercialization of scientific findings in Beijing," said Zhang Weiqi, head of the science and technology bureau of Wuqing district.

The G2 has become an important framework of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated development.

Along the expressway are 11 modern zones such as economic and science technology zones and bonded zones. The G2 and two other expressways, Beijing-Tianjin and Beijing-Taipei, have helped make transport between Beijing and Tianjin port, the biggest comprehensive port in North China, much more efficient.

Up to 70 percent of the cargo arriving at the port is from Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin, which has boosted regional economic growth.

Fast economic growth has in turn generated demand for bigger and better expressways. In the past 20 years many sections of the G2 have been expanded to six or eight lanes.