Coal has long been the principal railway cargo. The rather uneven distribution of coalfields in China makes it necessary to transport coal over long distances, especially between the North and South. The increase in the production of petroleum and natural gas has made necessary the construction of both pipelines and additional railways.
Since the late 1950s there has been a change in railway-construction policy. Prior to that time, most attention was paid to the needs of the eastern half of China, where most of the coal network is found; but since then, more emphasis has been given to extending the rail system into the western provinces and improving the original railway system, including such measures as building bridges, laying double tracks, and using continuous welded rail. In addition, certain important rail links have been electrified.
Since 1960 hundreds of thousands of workers have been mobilized to construct major lines in the northwest and southwest. In the 1970s new lines were extended into previously unopened parts of the country. In the 1980s new regions in the northwest were linked to the national market and opened up for development. The best example was the line built from Lanzhou in Gansu province westward into the oil fields of the Qaidam Basin. These projects, which were coordinated on a national level, contrast to the pattern prevailing before World War II, when foreign-financed railroads were built in different places without any attempt to coordinate or standardize the transport and communications system.
Even greater effort has been made since 1990 to speed up new railway construction and improve the existing network. A major new line runs southward from Beijing to Kowloon (Hong Kong) via Fuyang and Nanchang and eases strain on the other north-south trunk lines. The main east-west trunk line from Lianyungang on the east coast to Lanzhou now extends northwestward through Ürümqi (Urumchi) to the Xinjiang-Kazakhstan border, linking China to Central Asia and Russia. A third line, constructed southeastward from Kunming in Yunnan to the port of Beihai in Guangxi, greatly improves southwestern China’s access to the sea, as does a new line that connects Lhasa in Tibet with Qinghai province. In addition, upgrades to track and equipment have facilitated high-speed passenger rail service between Beijing and Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Harbin.
Road networks
The first modern highway in China was built in 1913 in Hunan province. The highways of China may be divided into three categories: state, provincial, or regional highways of political, economic, or military importance; local highways of secondary importance, operated by counties or communes; and special-purpose highways, mostly managed by factories, mines, state farms, forestry units, or the military forces.
The most striking achievement in highway construction has been the road system built on the cold and high Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. Workers, after overcoming various physical obstacles, within a few years built three of the highest and longest highways in the world, thus markedly changing the transport pattern in the western border regions of China and strengthening the national defense system. Of the three highways, one runs westward across Sichuan into Tibet; another extends southwestward from Qinghai to Tibet; and the third runs southward from Xinjiang to Tibet.
Another early objective was to build a rural road network in order to open up commercial routes to the villages and to facilitate the transport of locally produced goods. The wide dispersion and seasonal and variable nature of agricultural production, as well as the large numbers of relatively small shipments involved, explain why trucks are preferred for shipping. Similarly, trucks best bring consumer goods, fertilizers, and farm machinery and equipment to rural areas.
From the 1980s and especially since 1990, the emphasis has shifted to creating a nationwide network of major highways. Thousands of miles of multilane express highways have been constructed in and around the largest cities, and older two-lane roads have been widened to accommodate multiple lanes of traffic. Overall road mileage has roughly doubled since the early 1980s. Nonetheless, motor vehicle use has expanded much more rapidly than road construction, particularly in the major cities. In addition, a large proportion of China’s road network is either unpaved or badly in need of reconstruction.
Large-scale highway construction spurred China to develop its motor vehicle industry. The first vehicle manufacturing plant dates to the mid-1950s, and by 1970 localized production was widespread in the country. The basis of the early industry was generally simple, usually an extension of repair shops in which vehicles of various types were produced to serve the needs of the locality. Vehicles produced by large state automotive factories generally were distributed only to state enterprises and military units. By the 1980s many vehicles, especially automobiles, were imported. Domestic automobile manufacture grew rapidly after 1990 as individual car ownership became increasingly possible, and it emerged as one of China’s major industries. Several foreign companies have established joint ventures with Chinese firms.
Waterways
Since ancient times, inland water transport has played a major role in moving goods and commodities from production sources to consumption destinations. Railways and roads, though increasingly important to modern China’s transport network, cannot entirely supplant waterways. The high cost of construction prevents railways from being built extensively, and rail transport conditions are often congested. Freight volume carried by highways is limited, and highways are not suitable for moving bulk goods. China’s water transport potential is great, but it is still far from being fully developed. Nonetheless, China has more than 75,000 miles (some 125,000 km) of navigable inland waterways, the most extensive system of any country in the world. The distribution of waterways is chiefly within central and South China, except for a few navigable streams in the Northeast.
Cargo barges on the Grand Canal at Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China.© Susan Pierres/Peter Arnold, Inc.
One of the first goals of the communist government after it took power in 1949 was to establish a national network of waterways. It also initiated a program to build and refurbish port facilities and to dredge river channels. By 1961 some 15 principal waterways had been opened to navigation, focused on the Yangtze, Pearl (Zhu), Huai, and Han rivers, the Huang He (Yellow River), and the Grand Canal. Water transport development has subsequently received considerable emphasis. Dredging and other improvements to inland waterways have been important to economic reconstruction, while capital and maintenance costs for water transport have been much lower than those for railway transport.
The Yangtze, the most important artery in China’s waterway network, is also one of the most economically significant rivers in the world. Together with its tributaries, it accounts for almost half of the country’s waterway mileage, while the volume of the freight it carries represents about one-third of the total volume carried by river transport. Work undertaken in the mid-1950s to improve the middle course of the Yangtze allowed it to become navigable throughout the year from its mouth to Yibin in Sichuan. When the Yangtze is high in summer, it is navigable from its mouth to as far as Chongqing for ships of up to 5,000 tons. Many cable-hauling stations had been established at rapids on the upper course of the Yangtze and of its major tributaries, such as the Wu River. Boats sailing against the current are hauled over the rapids with strong steel cables attached to fixed winches, thus augmenting their loading capacity, increasing speed, and saving time. Such improvements have permitted regular passenger and cargo services to be operated on the Yangtze.
The Xi River is second in importance only to the Yangtze, being the major water transport artery of South China. Ships of 1,000 tons can sail up the Xi to Wuzhou, while smaller craft can sail up its middle and upper courses as well as up the Bei and Dong rivers and the tributaries of all these streams. The Yangtze and the Xi are not icebound in winter. The Sungari (Songhua) River, flowing across the Manchurian Plain, is navigable for half of its course; it is icebound from November through March and crowded with traffic the other months of the year. The Amur (Heilong), Sungari, and Ussuri (Wusuli) rivers with their tributaries form a network of waterways totaling about 12,500 miles (20,100 km) in length. In the past the Huang He was little navigated, especially on its middle and lower courses, but mechanized junks now operate along the middle course in Henan.