Transport in China
[1] The physical state and comprehensiveness of China's transport infrastructure tend to vary widely by geography.
While remote, rural areas still largely depend on non-mechanized means of transport, urban areas boast a wide variety of modern options, including a maglev system connecting the city center of Shanghai with Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Airports, roads, and railway construction will provide a massive employment boost in China over the next decade.
At the end of 2017,[5] there are some 34 metro systems in operation across China, including some of the largest and busiest subway networks in the world.
According to World Bank statistics, goods lost due to poor or obsolete transport infrastructure amounted to one percent of China's GDP as recently as the most current survey (mid-1990s).
Logistic costs account for 20% of a product's price in China, compared to 10% in the United States, and 5% in other developed countries.
Related industries such as construction equipment, engineering, container security, and electronics and safety devices have also grown rapidly.
[11] Because of its limited capital, overburdened infrastructure, and need to continuously modernize, the national rail system, which is controlled by the Ministry of Railways through a network of regional divisions, operates on an austere budget.
Foreign capital investment in the freight sector was allowed beginning in 2003, and international public stock offerings opened in 2006.
The project involved the modernization and infrastructure development of a 4,131 km (2,567 mi) railroad route starting in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, and traveling through central and northwestern China to Urumqi, Xinjiang, to the Alataw Pass into Kazakhstan.
Linking Lhasa and Shigatse together in Tibet, the construction of a 254 km (158 mi) extension line of the Qingzang railway started in 2009 with completion expected by 2014.
The Chinese project, a Sino-German joint venture, was a 38-km-long route between downtown Shanghai and the Pudong airport that opened in 2003.
[27][28][29] Furthermore, of the 50 longest metro systems in the world, 26 are in Mainland China; Hong Kong and Taipei also make the list.
China's passenger railways are mostly used for medium- and long-distance travel, with few trains stopping anywhere but at major stations in center cities.
Commuter rail systems, characteristic of large European and North American cities, were initially uncommon in China.
[37][38][39] As of Feburary 2025, all lines on the LRT use Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Crystal Mover APM vehicles that are two-car trains and fully automated.
Since it came into power, the Communist government initiated a large effort into building highways that extend across China and beyond its borders.
However, car ownership is still low in comparison to the other members of the BRIC group of countries, being exceeded by Russia and Brazil.
Beijing currently has the highest annual rate of private car growth in China, leading to major congestion in the capital.
Meanwhile, the central and local governments have continued to allocate funds to support the countryside highway build-up and step up construction quality supervision.
To meet growing demands for passenger and cargo capacity, in 2005 these airlines significantly expanded their fleets with orders placed for additional Boeing and Airbus aircraft expected to be delivered by 2010.
In June 2006, it was announced that an Airbus A320 assembly plant would be built in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, with the first aircraft to be delivered in 2008.
Other major airports are located at Hong Kong, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hohhot, Kunming, Qingdao, Shenyang, Tianjin, Urumqi, Xiamen, and Xi'an.
China is served both by numerous major international flights to most countries of the world and a host of domestic regional airlines.
The major ports, including river ports accessible by ocean-going ships, are Beihai, Dalian, Dandong, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Hankou, Huangpu, Jiujiang, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Rizhao, Sanya, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Weihai, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Yangzhou, Yantai, and Zhanjiang.
Additionally, Hong Kong is a major international port serving as an important trade center for China.
There are also passenger and vehicle ferry lines connecting China with South Korea and Japan, as well as with the R.O.C.-controlled Kinmen Island.
Passenger traffic is 271 million people and 7.308 billion person-km (2015), as reported by the 2015 Transportation Industry Statistical bulletin.
Nonetheless, passenger boats are still popular in some mountainous regions, such as Western Hubei and Chongqing (the Three Gorges area), where railways are few and road access to many towns is inconvenient.
Some economic experts have argued that the development gap between China and other emerging economies such as Brazil, Argentina and India can be attributed to a large extent to China's early focus on ambitious infrastructure projects, notably mass transport and transit related projects.
