China issues five-year plan to expand transport network

BEIJING -- China's State Council on Tuesday issued a plan to expand its transport network during the 13th Five-year Plan (2016-2020).

By 2020, the country will have 150,000 kilometers of railway lines, 5 million km of roads, 260 airports and 2,527 berths for vessels over 10,000 tonnes.

The country also plans to expand its high-speed railway network to 30,000 km by 2020, connecting more than 80 percent of cities with a population of more than 1 million.

Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng said that the country would channel 15 trillion yuan ($2.17 trillion) into transport infrastructure projects during the five years up to 2020, including 3.5 trillion yuan for railways, 7.8 trillion yuan for roads and 500 billion yuan for water transport.

The country's transport investment totaled 13.4 trillion yuan between 2011 and 2015, about 1.6 times that spent from 2006 to 2010.