At the 2025 Hunan Provincial Transportation Work Conference, held on February 21st, the reporters learned that Hunan province will intensify the transportation reforms this year. The province aims to continuously reduce costs, enhance quality, and boost the efficiency in transportation and logistics, fostering innovative forms of transportation productivity. Throughout the year, Hunan plans to invest over RMB 89 billion in road and waterway infrastructure.
This year, Hunan will further refine its transportation infrastructure network, completing and opening four expressways, including Liling-Loudi, Sangzhi-Longshan, Luchi (Lushan-Cixi), and Jinli (Jinzhou-Liling). The province will also expedite the construction of 19 ongoing expressway projects, a total of 1,534 kilometers, and initiate five new expressway projects, including the expansion of the Loudi-Dongkou section of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway. Furthermore, 300 kilometers of national and provincial trunk roads will be completed, and 5,000 kilometers of rural roads will undergo new construction or renovation. Hunan will also accelerate six pivotal inland waterway transportation projects, such as the Hongchen section of the Yuan River and the Shili section of the Lishui River, adding 15 berths capable of accommodating vessels exceeding 1,000 tons. Additionally, it will also complete seven integrated cargo transport hubs and 226 ordinary passenger and cargo transport stations, urban bus depots, and other facilities.
To steadfastly accomplish cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement in transportation and logistics, Hunan will champion the “One Lake, Four Rivers” port and waterway enhancement initiative. The province will streamline the “cross-shaped” major thoroughfares along the Xiang River and Yuan River and establish a port system comprising “one hub, multiple key points, and widespread extensions.” Hunan will deepen its participation in the national pilot program for strengthening and supplementing links in comprehensive cargo transport hubs, supporting Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan in their aspiration to become national comprehensive transportation hub cities. The province will explore and promote a “one port, one policy” approach (tailored policies for each port) for container rail-water intermodal transportation in Yueyang and Changsha. Hunan will also accelerate the normalization of direct sea-river routes, such as those from Zhoushan to Yueyang and from Yueyang to Russia, and expedite the construction of railway sidings at ports like Tongguan and Yugong. It aims to achieve an annual total arrival and departure volume of 160 million tons for railway sidings across the province, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 10%.
Hunan will fully implement the optimized adjustment plan for expressway construction implementation, systematically carrying out expressway network completion and expansion projects, quality improvement projects for expressway connector roads, and construction projects for open-access service areas. The province will steadily advance long-term maintenance reforms for ordinary national and provincial roads in six prefectures and cities, including Changsha and Xiangtan, establishing and refining a long-term maintenance technology system and evaluation framework. Hunan will accelerate the designation of the fourth batch of demonstration counties for urban-rural integrated passenger transport, aiming for over 55% of administrative villages to offer bus services. The province will promote 11 key projects, including the digital upgrade of highway network monitoring, early warning, and emergency command systems, and the Xiang River digital waterway project, exploring the development of a “trusted data space.” Hunan will establish an integrated transportation platform for the entire province, develop a unified “single map” of electronic waterway charts, and expand the application of “photovoltaics + highways” from pilot projects to a province-wide scale.
From: China Transportation News Network