Zhanjiang sets up comprehensive transport network

With Zhanjiang positioned as a comprehensive transportation hub in China, the city's traffic infrastructure has entered into a high-speed development period, bringing great convenience to local residents.

Over the past five years, Zhanjiang invested 32.57 billion yuan ($5 billion) in traffic infrastructure, 14.61 billion yuan in highways, 6.09 billion yuan in railways and 7.59 billion yuan in port construction.

Construction on the five highways in Zhanjiang has sped up. The Zhanjiang section of the Shantou-Zhanjiang Highway is expected to come into service by year's end, while the Wuchuan feeder will commence construction in October.

While completing transformation of 815.9-km of national and provincial highways, Zhanjiang has upgraded and transformed 500.7 kilometers of county roads with an investment of 1 billion yuan.

Two 50,000-ton specialized container terminals were built in Baoman Port, a 300,000-ton bulk cargo terminal has been completed in Xiashan Port and 250,000-ton and 300,000-ton bulk cargo terminals are being built by Baosteel Zhanjiang.

Zhanjiang Airport has made great strides in air route expansion and service improvement, with its passenger throughput doubling in the past three years. In the first half of this year, its passenger throughput reached 1 million, up 47.7 percent year-on-year.

As of June, there were 1,324 buses in the city and 101 bus routes in its urban areas. Zhanjiang has not only become the first city in China to realize universal coverage of Wifi in buses, but has also arranged mutual recognition of bus ID cards with other Guangdong cities.

A total of 1,193 taxis in the urban areas of Zhanjiang are equipped with taximeter and surveillance camera to ensure the safety of drivers at night and the quality of their services.

In recent years, Zhanjiang has actively pushed forward a comprehensive public transport system centered on buses and supplemented by taxis, bikes and waterbuses.

"Travelling is very convenient in the city and even the countryside is accessible by buses," said a native surnamed Fang who returned to visit relatives during the National Day holiday.