National Development and Reform Commission: “15th Five-Year Plan” investment in the transportation sector is expected to maintain large-scale hype to prevent projects from following the trend

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on November 4, the National Development and Reform Commission held the Endeavour “15th Five-Year Plan” series of press conferences to introduce the situation related to consolidating development support. Xia Xin, director of the Infrastructure Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that transportation is the main force in infrastructure investment and plays an important role in stabilizing investment and promoting development. Since this year, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with transportation industry departments and factor guarantee departments, have expedited implementation of project approval procedures, strengthened project construction monitoring and scheduling, and efficiently completed the review and screening of projects such as investment within the central budget, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, local government special bonds, and new policy financial instruments, etc., to strongly support the work of securing project construction and stabilizing investment.

During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, reserves for new construction projects were still quite sufficient. There was a huge demand for upgrading existing facilities. Infrastructure safety improvements, digital intelligence upgrades, and green transformation are also spawning new investment needs. It is expected that transportation investment will remain on a large scale. Overall, China's transportation investment has gradually entered the stage of optimizing the structure, improving quality and efficiency. We will balance incremental construction and inventory optimization, and pay more attention to efficiency, quality, safety and resilience.

Xia Xin said that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, we will insist on being moderately ahead of the curve, and adopt stronger and more effective policies and measures to stabilize investment in transportation and stabilize the overall economy. On the one hand, it is to preserve excellence and promote innovation, support the speedy implementation of strategically significant projects involving national security, and with urgent needs and good benefits, and expand investment in emerging fields. On the other hand, it is putting pressure on the bad and deficient, focusing on reducing projects with low efficiency, low utilization rates, and repeated homogenization, and strictly preventing new business format projects in new fields from being hyped up and rushed up all at once.

The transcript is as follows:

Li Chao:

Good morning to all media friends. Welcome to today's press conference. I am Li Chao, Deputy Director of the Policy Research Office of the National Development and Reform Commission and press spokesman of the Commission.

Today is the second press conference in the “Endeavour to the 15th Five-Year Plan” series. The theme is “Consolidate Development Support”. It will focus on the deployment and implementation of a modern infrastructure system. Modern infrastructure is an integral part of the modern industrial system. Since this year, in accordance with the deployment requirements of the “Outline” of the “15th Five-Year Plan”, the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments have insisted on being moderately ahead of schedule, strengthening overall infrastructure planning, optimizing the layout structure, promoting integration, and improving safety, resilience and operational sustainability.

To help everyone better understand the situation, today we invited Mr. Xia Xin, Director of the Infrastructure Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission; Mr. Guan Xifan, Deputy Director of the Department of Rural Economy and Level 1 Inspector; and Mr. Kou Rong, Deputy Director of the Department of Economy and Trade, to attend the press conference. We asked them to introduce the relevant situation and answer everyone's concerns in the fields of modern integrated transportation system development, modern circulation system construction, and water safety and security.

Next, let's first ask Director Xia Xin to introduce the relevant situation.

Xia Xin:

Good morning to all media friends! Next, I will briefly introduce the situation relating to the construction of a modern infrastructure system during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. Looking at the foundation of development, during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China made breakthrough progress in infrastructure development. The overall level was raised by leaps and bounds, and a number of world-leading achievements were achieved, fully demonstrating the unique advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. It can be summarized as three leading the world.

First, the scale of facilities leads the world. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the total mileage of the national transportation network was over 6 million kilometers, and the world's largest highway, high-speed railway, and high-grade waterway network could be built around the Earth's equator; 3.89 billion kilowatts of installed power generation, 220 kV and above transmission lines were over 1 million kilometers long, 318,000 kilometers of embankments, 1,095 million mu of arable land irrigated, and the total length of optical cable lines was about 75 million kilometers.

Second, service capabilities lead the world. In 2025, China's total cargo transportation volume is about 59.7 billion tons, the turnover is about 27 trillion tons and kilometers, the total passenger traffic is about 171 billion people, and the turnover is about 3.6 trillion people kilometers; the power generation capacity is about 10.6 trillion kilowatt-hours, of which clean energy generation has reached 4.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, ranking first in the world. Overseas netizens all lament that China is an infrastructure powerhouse. Our projects are being built quickly, our service is of high quality, and our high-speed rail travel has been widely praised by foreign tourists.

Third, technological innovation leads the world. China has formed a large number of core technologies with independent intellectual property rights in the fields of high-speed railways, long-span bridges, large-scale hydraulic projects, UHV transmission, and third-generation nuclear power. For example, the Ya'an to Linzhi Railway is known as the “hardest railway to build,” the Huajiang River Gorge Bridge in Guizhou became the tallest bridge in the world, and the Grand Tengxia in Guangxi built the world's tallest single-stage lock at the head of the water. A full set of UHV core equipment was independently developed, forming an international standard for UHV led by China. “Hualong 1” has reached the highest international nuclear safety standards, and has batch construction and independent export capabilities.

During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, we will stick to being moderately ahead of schedule, and will be guided by promoting integrated infrastructure connectivity and collaborative integration, strengthening overall planning, and speeding up the construction of a modern infrastructure system with advanced applications, complete systems, intensive efficiency, and safety and green.

From an overall perspective, it is necessary to optimize the infrastructure layout structure, promote integration, and enhance security resilience. For example, we will strengthen the construction of large cross-regional and cross-watershed corridors; enhance the coverage, depth of access and international connectivity of facility networks; strengthen coordination and connectivity between backbone networks, regional networks, and peripheral networks to improve overall network efficiency; promote the digital and intelligent upgrading of traditional infrastructure to accelerate energy use restructuring and green and low-carbon transformation; strengthen the construction of safety facilities in key areas to enhance prevention, resilience and rapid repair capabilities to deal with natural disasters, accidents, and emergencies.

By sector, various types of infrastructure are at different stages of development, and their goals and tasks are also focused on. For example, the transportation sector will improve the modern integrated transportation system, promote the strengthening of the supply chain, improve the quality and increase the overall efficiency; the energy sector will accelerate the construction of a new energy system, enhance self-sufficiency and safe storage capabilities, and promote the peak of carbon emissions and total fossil energy consumption; the water conservancy sector will consolidate the foundation, fill up shortcomings, speed up the construction of modern water networks, and enhance flood disaster prevention, integrated allocation of water resources, and urban and rural water supply security capabilities; the information sector will coordinate the moderately advanced layout of new infrastructure and the digital upgrading of traditional infrastructure.

I'll introduce these first, thank you.

Li Chao:

Thank you, Director Xia Xin. Now let's move on to the questioning section. Please inform the media you are representing before asking questions; please ask questions.

Yangguang Voice of China:

Transportation is a pioneer in Chinese-style modernization. The “Outline” of the “15th Five-Year Plan” proposes to improve the modern integrated transportation system. What are the plans and arrangements in the specific process?

Xia Xin:

Thank you. As you said, transportation is a basic, leading, and strategic industry that supports economic and social development and maintains national security, and is an important guarantee for building a modern industrial system. The “14th Five-Year Plan” period was the five years with the largest investment and fastest development in transportation since the founding of New China. Our committee, together with relevant departments and units, improved the transportation planning system, increased financial policy support, steadily implemented landmark projects such as the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, the riverside high-speed railway, and the container terminal in the Xiaoyangshan North Operation Area, and promoted the application assessment of the CR450 EMU prototype. That is, the new generation of the Fuxing high-speed railway, with a speed of about 450 kilometers per hour. The C919 large passenger plane normalized commercial operation, accelerated the construction of charging facilities, and deepened transportation structure adjustments. Overall, the large-scale capacity of China's transportation has basically adapted to the needs of economic and social development, and the “15th Five-Year Plan” period will comprehensively shift to high-quality development.

In terms of thinking, the main four are clear. First, it is clear that adhering to being moderately ahead of the curve and not being too ahead of schedule is the primary principle. Second, it is clear that promoting high-quality transportation development is the main theme line. Third, the main path is to improve the country's comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network and promote integration, safety improvement, digital intelligence upgrading, and green transformation. Fourth, clearly establish a basic modern integrated transportation system as the overall goal.

In terms of initiatives, there are five main tasks.

The first is to improve the infrastructure layout. Accelerate the construction of strategic backbone corridors along the coast, along the river, exit from Tibet, and new land and sea corridors in the west, improve the integrated transportation hub system, raise the level of coverage and accessibility in western and border areas, improve the international transportation channel system, and strive to achieve a 95% construction rate of the main framework of the national integrated three-dimensional transportation network by 2030.

The second is to optimize the transportation structure. Promote the upgrading of old facilities and increase the capacity and intelligence of facilities with limited capacity, implement projects to improve the efficiency of intercity commuting in the metropolitan area and a new round of rural highway upgrading actions, develop multimodal transport and specialized freight, and strive to reach 90% of the one-hour intermodal transport rate for key integrated freight hubs by 2030. At the same time, we will adapt to changes in population size and age structure, strengthen the construction of an age-appropriate and child-friendly travel environment, and promote the construction, renovation and equipment configuration of barrier-free facilities, such as actively promoting railway telephone booking services for elderly passengers.

The third is to enhance safety and security capabilities. Improve safety redundancy and disaster prevention and disaster relief design, strengthen monitoring, early warning and emergency rescue capacity building, implement traffic safety and resilience improvement projects, strive for 100% coverage of key risk road sections and bridge monitoring and early warning facilities by 2030, and complete the reinforcement and renovation of about 2,000 dilapidated railway bridges.

Fourth, accelerate the smart green transformation. Build a 25,000-kilometer digital intelligence transportation corridor and a 35,000-kilometer zero-carbon transportation corridor to create a number of new scenarios for integrated transportation energy development, and push the transportation industry to reach a carbon peak as a whole.

The fifth is to deepen the reform of institutional mechanisms. Build a unified and open transportation market, support the fair participation of private enterprises in the construction of major transportation projects, deepen the reform of the railway system, promote the optimization of toll road policies, and enhance the sustainability of operations.

Thank you.

China News Agency:

Water infrastructure construction is of great significance in building a modern infrastructure system. As an important part of the “six networks”, how will the water network advance during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period?

Kwan Seok-fan:

The national water network is a comprehensive system based on natural rivers and lakes, integrating functions such as optimal allocation of water harvesting resources, flood prevention and mitigation in watersheds, and protection of aquatic ecosystems, based on drainage projects as channels, storage projects as nodes, and intelligent control. Accelerating the construction of a modern water network is a major strategic plan made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core. It is an inevitable requirement for safeguarding the country's water safety and advancing Chinese-style modernization based on China's water conditions and conditions. Since the Party Central Committee and the State Council issued the “Outline of the National Water Network Construction Plan”, our committee and the Ministry of Water Resources have accelerated the construction of water networks. Currently, 35 of the 40 backbone transportation and drainage channels of the national water network have been built and 35 are under construction, and 473 of the 588 important storage points of the national water network have been built and under construction, accounting for 80%. In terms of disaster prevention and mitigation, China has built 94,300 reservoirs with a flood control capacity of 185.6 billion cubic meters. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, more than 550 billion cubic meters of floods were blocked and stored through reservoirs, reducing the flooding of more than 7,600 cities. In terms of water supply and irrigation, 200 large and medium-sized water diversion projects have been built. The water transportation capacity of the north-south, east-west backbone drainage channels reached 81.9 billion cubic meters and 73.4 billion cubic meters respectively. Combined, it is equivalent to the annual runoff of the three Yellow Rivers. The irrigated area of arable land increased to 1,095 million mu. In terms of aquatic ecological restoration, the landscape of rivers and lakes has undergone new changes. A number of rivers, such as the Yongding River, the Hutuo River, and the Xiliao River, have resumed flow. The shallow and deep groundwater in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei treatment area has rebounded 3.3 meters and 7.7 meters, respectively, compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. An additional 340,000 square kilometers of soil erosion control area have been added, and the amount of sediment entering the Yellow River has been significantly reduced.

During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, we will focus on the three requirements of flood risk prevention, control and supply, and river ecological protection and management, and optimize the water network layout in an integrated manner, and continuously improve the watershed flood prevention and mitigation system, water resource allocation and water supply guarantee system, and river and lake ecosystem protection and management system. In order to complete the “15th Five-Year Plan” water network construction tasks, we will work with relevant parties to plan early, take the initiative, and advance efforts. First, it continues to advance on a rolling basis. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, a total of more than 400 major projects were planned in 3 areas, including flood prevention and mitigation, water supply and irrigation, and aquatic ecological restoration and protection. According to the idea of “complete and complete one batch, accelerate construction, set up a batch, advance one batch, and research and demonstrate one batch”, a gradual construction pattern was formed. The second is to deepen preliminary work. Thoroughly doing preliminary work is a basic prerequisite for scientifically advancing project construction. We will follow the demonstration principle of “there is real need, ecological safety, and sustainability” to guide all regions to effectively improve the quality of early work, optimize engineering design plans, and ensure that they stand the test of history and practice. The third is to increase investment support. The construction scale of the water network project is large, and the investment demand is high. We will continue to use water network engineering as an important support area to maintain a reasonable level of central investment. At the same time, efforts are being made to broaden water investment and financing channels, make good use of new policy financial instruments, attract the participation of social capital, especially private capital, and promote the issuance and listing of more water infrastructure investment trusts (REITs). For example, the Guangdong Guangdong Water Resources REITs Project was recently listed and traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. This is also the second REITs project in the water conservancy sector in China.

Xinhua News Agency, China Economic and Social Agency:

Circulation is linked to production at one end and consumption at the other. It is an area that all sectors of society are concerned about. We have noticed that the “Outline” of the “15th Five-Year Plan” specifically proposes “a sound, efficient and smooth modern circulation system.” So, I would like to ask what are the work arrangements in the field of circulation during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period?

Kou Rong:

Thank you for your question.

Circulation is the “lifeblood” of the economic cycle. Modern circulation systems can link production and consumption on a wider scale and play a fundamental, leading, and strategic role in the national economy. In recent years, thanks to the joint efforts of all parties, China's distribution industry has flourished, the scale has continued to expand, the structure has been continuously optimized, and the construction of a modern circulation system has achieved positive results. First, the construction of a unified national market in the distribution sector is progressing at an accelerated pace. The negative market access list continued to be reduced and optimized, and more than 170 circulation-related national standard system revisions were completed during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period; second, the modern trade circulation system was improved. Traditional business formats such as shopping centers and department stores are rapidly transforming, and new business formats such as live e-commerce and instant retail are developing rapidly. Express parcels circulate at a high speed in China, with an average of 540 million pieces per day, with an annual per capita express delivery volume of over 140. Third, a modern logistics system has initially taken shape. Up to now, 181 national logistics hubs and 105 national key cold chain logistics bases have been implemented, effectively supporting the “interconnection” of logistics infrastructure. In August of this year, our committee and relevant departments issued the “Logistics Network Construction Implementation Plan”, which made comprehensive deployment arrangements for logistics network construction. In addition, the ability of transportation, finance, and credit to support circulation development is also constantly being strengthened. The comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network is becoming more and more dense, financial products serving the development of circulation are becoming more and more abundant, and the credit system is more complete.

During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, in the face of the new development situation and requirements, according to the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission will work with relevant departments to advance specific work in five areas around one key task. “One key task” is to speed up the construction of a smooth and efficient modern distribution network, mainly by building strategic fulcrum cities for modern distribution strategies and distribution corridors to improve the main framework of the modern circulation system, so as to make large-scale distribution of products smoother across regions. Specific work will focus on five areas, including distribution facilities, key products, business format innovation, enterprise development, and rules and standards. The first is to build integrated distribution facilities, focusing on optimizing both commercial and trade circulation facilities and logistics facilities to promote connectivity and coordination of facilities. The second is to raise the level of modernization of the circulation of key commodities, focus on improving the commodity production, storage and marketing system, and enhance commodity storage, transportation and transit and distribution capabilities, such as developing and expanding direct trains for bulk goods, strengthening iron and water intermodal transport organizations, etc., so that commodity circulation can further “speed up and reduce costs.” The third is to develop new distribution formats, new models and new scenarios, expand new business scenarios such as smart stores, implement intelligent transformation of distribution facilities and equipment, focus on promoting energy-saving transformation of logistics parks, wholesale markets, commercial complexes, etc., and accelerate the development of the distribution industry towards a new green direction. Fourth, build a dynamic distribution enterprise development ecosystem, mainly to improve, improve and strengthen characteristic commercial and trade enterprises, deepen the demonstration creation of time-honored Chinese brands, guide the collaboration and linkage of urban commercial facilities with tourist attractions, transportation hubs, cultural and sports venues, etc., and promote the co-construction and sharing of resources. The fifth is to improve integrated circulation rules and standards, strengthen the revision of rules and standards in key areas such as trade logistics, e-commerce, and agricultural product circulation, promote the interconnection and rule connection of facilities such as circulation logistics, market information, and trading platforms, and further dismantle the intangible “fence wall” that hampers circulation. Furthermore, the guarantee of resource factors required for the development of the distribution industry will also be further strengthened.

It is expected that by the end of the “15th Five-Year Plan”, the overall scale of China's distribution industry will continue to expand, with total retail sales of consumer goods reaching about 60 trillion yuan; the distribution network will be more complete, the radiation-driven capacity of 102 cities that are the fulcrum of modern distribution strategies will be further enhanced, and 6 major distribution corridors for national-level important commodities will be built. The modern circulation system will be more perfect to better serve the Chinese-style modernization drive. Thank you.

Beijing Daily:

Railways, highways, water transport, and civil aviation are important components of modern integrated transportation systems. We have noticed that recently China Railway Group announced that it will add a high-speed rail with the letter X, specially adapted for future ultra-high speed trains with a speed of 350 kilometers or more per hour. In addition to this, what are the development directions and priorities of the various modes of transportation during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period?

Xia Xin:

OK, thanks for asking. I have just introduced the overall situation of the CR450 EMU prototype vehicle application assessment that was relatively smooth. Each type of transportation has its own characteristics and suitable scenarios. Only through overall layout and coordination can the efficient operation of the integrated transportation system be promoted.

Railways are positioned as the backbone of integrated transportation. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China will build about 15,000 kilometers of railways, including about 10,000 kilometers of high-speed railways, to basically achieve the goal of railway modernization. In terms of key tasks. The main “eight vertical and eight horizontal” high-speed railway corridors have basically been built. High-speed railways are basically passenger transportation, and the coverage of regional links is reasonably expanded. Accelerate the construction of a complete technical and standard system for the construction and operation of high-speed railways with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour, and steadily promote commercial operation. Strengthen the construction of general speed railways, speed up the capacity expansion and transformation of busy main lines, and basically eliminate bottlenecks in trunk line channel capacity. Build a specialized railway freight network, optimize the functional layout of railway logistics bases across the country, expand the scope of container trains, steadily promote railways with a speed of 200 kilometers per hour to operate freight trains as needed, and strive to increase freight volume by 220 million tons during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. Major engineering aspects. Fully build a high-standard riverside high-speed railway, speed up the construction of a coastal high-speed railway, steadily advance the construction of a railway along the border, speed up the construction of the Xinjiang coal export system, and advance work on projects such as the Qin—Shen Second Corridor.

In the overall transportation system, highways are the foundation of integrated transportation. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China will build about 21,000 kilometers of expressways and basically build a modern road traffic system. In terms of key tasks. Connect through the national highway network, speed up the construction of highways along the river and sections of the metropolitan area ring road waiting to be completed, promote the expansion of capacity and intelligence of highways such as Lianhuo, Shenhai, Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao, etc., rationally control the scale and pace of local highway construction, and promote high-quality rural highway development. Major engineering aspects. Implement projects to complete and upgrade the quality of national highways and parallel lines leaving and entering Tibet, promote the completion and upgrading of riverside highways in an orderly manner, and implement projects to improve the safety and resilience of national highways. Improving safety and resilience is an aspect we will focus on in recent years.

Water transport is a heavy-duty route for low-cost transportation. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China will build about 2,500 kilometers of national high-grade waterways, more than 1 million ton automated terminal berths, and basically build a modern water transport system. In terms of key tasks. Build world-class ports, enhance the shipping services, industrial support and resource allocation capabilities of the Bohai Rim, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao world-class port clusters, optimize and enhance the transportation functions of major ports, strengthen the connectivity of inland waterways systems, systematically enhance the navigation capacity of the Yangtze River Main Line, and steadily break through the navigation bottlenecks of key interprovincial waterways. Major engineering aspects. Accelerate the construction of a world-class Shanghai international shipping center, optimize and upgrade the Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao port clusters, actively develop the southeast coastal port cluster and the Beibu Gulf port cluster, and build a new water transport channel for the Three Gorges.

Civil aviation is a time-efficient pioneer in long-distance transportation. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China will build about 15 new civil transport airports, and the safety level, service capacity, and infrastructure of the industry will be world-class. In terms of key tasks. With Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Chongqing as the center, we will build a world-class airport cluster with main and auxiliary collaboration, complementary functions, and balance passengers and cargo, enhance the functions of international aviation hubs in Urumqi, Xi'an, Kunming and Harbin for specific regions, promote the renovation and expansion of hub airports with tight resource capacity, rationally encrypt the layout of regional airports and general airports, and promote the healthy and orderly development of international air cargo. Promote large-scale serial development of large domestic aircraft. In terms of major engineering. Build new airports in Hohhot, Xiamen, and Dalian, build new airports in Guangzhou and Nantong, advance preliminary work on new airports such as Sanya, implement a number of hub airport renovations and expansions, and build a number of airports in border areas.

Thank you.

Nanfang Daily:

The impact of global climate change has intensified in recent years, extreme weather is frequent, and the safe operation of water infrastructure systems is under greater pressure. How will China's flood safety be guaranteed during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period?

Kwan Seok-fan:

Your question is very important. In recent years, due to extreme weather, extreme and regional floods have occurred frequently around the world, and so has our country. It is necessary to establish extreme thinking and bottom-line thinking, coordinate the prevention of watershed floods and local disasters, and comprehensively improve flood control safety and security capabilities.

On the one hand, it is necessary to further improve the watershed flood prevention and mitigation system. We will comprehensively adopt measures combining “emission expansion, savings increase, and insurance control” to build a modern flood control engineering system composed of rivers, embankments, reservoirs, and flood storage and stagnation areas using watersheds as units. River embankments are a key vehicle for flooding and flood control. We will continue to promote the construction of embankments and river remediation for major rivers, large rivers, and lakes, and small to medium rivers to improve flood ability. Flood control reservoirs are the core gripper for flood control. We will speed up the implementation of a number of flood control reservoirs such as Guxian in the Yellow River and Huangmaoxia in Guangdong. Flood storage and retention zones are the final buffer against excessive floods. Our work focuses on optimizing the operation layout of flood storage and stagnation zones and carrying out dam construction that meets standards. At the same time as the construction of the project, we will also improve monitoring and forecasting capabilities, strengthen the joint construction and sharing of satellite radar, rainfall station networks, and hydrological station networks in accordance with the principle of “complementing, encrypting, and improving efficiency”, and build a frontier line of defense for rain monitoring and forecasting.

On the other hand, we should focus on reservoir dam safety. The reservoir stores a large amount of water, which is related to the overall flood control in the watershed area, and project safety must not be lost. Our country's reservoirs have the characteristics of being “old, earthy, and small”. In other words, 80% of reservoirs were built before 1980, earth-rock dams account for 90%, and small reservoirs account for nearly 95%. Against the backdrop of more and more extreme weather, reservoir safety is being tested by insufficient innate foundations, aging acquired conditions, and increased external risks. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, we will work with relevant parties to comprehensively and systematically promote the renovation and upgrading of old reservoirs, and continue to steadily carry out risk removal and reinforcement of sick-insurance reservoirs to prevent problems before they occur. Focus on doing four things well. The first is a comprehensive physical examination. The Ministry of Water Resources is organizing efforts to centrally carry out a net-pull investigation of all old reservoirs in the country, scientifically evaluate and determine risk levels, and draw up a list of reservoirs with hidden risks. Second, treat the symptoms. Adhere to the “one bank, one policy”, and take targeted measures to implement transformation and upgrading in accordance with the principle of priority. Third, treat as you go along with the disease. Improve long-term risk removal and reinforcement mechanisms for disease insurance reservoirs, carry out normalized safety assessments, early detection, early treatment, early acceptance, and early resumption of use. Fourth, maintenance and care. Compute territorial management responsibilities, improve the normalized management mechanism covering the entire life cycle of the reservoir operation in accordance with the requirements of “having a reservoir must be maintained, must be in place”, and effectively manage and look after each reservoir to ensure the long-lasting benefits of the reservoir.

CCTV:

On July 10, the executive meeting of the State Council called for filling up the shortcomings and weaknesses in circulation infrastructure and building a backbone distribution network for important commodities. What are the future considerations for “building a backbone distribution network for important products”?

Kou Rong:

Thank you for your question.

Building a backbone distribution network for important products is an important part of building a modern distribution system. The backbone distribution network for important products will strongly promote the improvement of the quality and efficiency of circulation development, and add impetus, vitality and resilience to the smooth flow of the economic cycle. How was this network built? It is necessary to coordinate all aspects of production, circulation, and consumption of related products and actively and steadily promote them. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, we have begun to build a distribution network based on modern distribution strategic fulcrum cities and important commodity distribution corridors, and carried out some practice and exploration.

Seen from a city that is the fulcrum of modern distribution strategies. Up to now, 102 modern distribution strategy fulcrum cities have issued construction plans. Construction is being promoted according to the three categories of comprehensive, complex, and functional, and some typical cases have been formed. For example, Guangzhou has gathered to develop modern professional wholesale markets. Currently, there are more than 500 specialty markets, with an annual turnover exceeding 1.5 trillion yuan, making it an important fulcrum for the circulation of clothing, beauty and other products.

View from the main distribution corridors for important products. Progress has been made in phased progress in the construction of key distribution corridors for important commodities at the national level, such as Jinji-Hebei and Luyu commodities, agricultural materials from the southwest, and mineral products from the west. For example, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu commodity backbone distribution corridor was jointly built by relevant cities in the four provinces. It is the first national-level key commodity circulation corridor to start construction. In the future, it will promote the efficient transportation of about 500 million tons of coal and 200 million tons of iron ore every year along the route, making it an important channel for “transportation of coal from west to east” and “internal transportation of foreign mines.”

View commodity resource allocation hubs. Zhejiang built the country's first commodity resource allocation hub in Zhoushan, Ningbo. A number of major infrastructure projects in the fields of storage, transportation, processing, etc. have been put into construction. Some have already been completed and put into operation. The commodity trading trade ecosystem is more prosperous, and the efficiency of river-sea intermodal transportation has been greatly improved. Not long ago, Zhoushan successfully launched the first “Haijiang Railway” multimodal logistics service for imported food. It went directly from Zhoushan to Meishan, Sichuan. The total journey was nearly 3,000 kilometers. It only took 11 days, and the transit efficiency increased by 30%.

We will continue to make efforts based on early work to accelerate the construction of key distribution networks for important products, and promote large-scale, efficient and smooth circulation of related products across regions through “connecting points to lines” and “connecting networks”. The focus will be on the following three areas.

The first is to improve the radiation-driving capacity of cities that are the fulcrum of modern distribution strategies. Support relevant cities to build modern trade circulation systems and logistics systems at a high level, enhance the ability to gather and integrate cross-regional circulation resource elements, enhance the “four-stream” integration and development capabilities of commercial flow, logistics, capital flow, and information flow, so that circulation can more efficiently serve production and consumption, and better play a radiation-driven role in regional economic development.

The second is to strengthen the tandem linkage function of key distribution corridors for important products. Support relevant regions to build important commodity backbone distribution corridors with deep connections between product production and marketing, and close collaboration in industrial division of labor, and connect the fulcrum cities of modern distribution strategies. Promote the layout of distribution facilities such as storage, transportation, distribution, and trading along the corridor in an integrated manner, promote in-depth industrial cooperation and the agglomeration and development of distribution enterprises along the corridor, and further develop the market link and industrial organization role of the modern circulation system.

The third is to support regions that are in a position to do so to build commodity resource allocation hubs at a high level. Focus on primary commodities such as agricultural products, energy products, minerals, etc., support commodity resource allocation hubs with complete urban construction facilities and sound systems with certain basic conditions, comprehensively raise the level of modern development of commodity circulation, and better serve the upstream and downstream development of the industry.

Thank you.

Cover news:

You just mentioned that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, transportation network construction will take promotion of integration, safety upgrading, digital intelligence upgrading, and green transformation as the main path. What new characteristics will corresponding transportation investment and construction have? What changes will it bring to transportation development?

Xia Xin:

Thanks for asking. Transportation is the main force in infrastructure investment, and it plays an important role in stabilizing investment and promoting development. Since this year, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with transportation industry departments and factor guarantee departments, have expedited implementation of project approval procedures, strengthened project construction monitoring and scheduling, and efficiently completed the review and screening of projects such as investment within the central budget, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, local government special bonds, and new policy financial instruments, etc., to strongly support the work of securing project construction and stabilizing investment. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, reserves for new construction projects were still quite sufficient. There was a huge demand for upgrading existing facilities. Infrastructure safety improvements, digital intelligence upgrades, and green transformation are also spawning new investment needs. It is expected that transportation investment will remain on a large scale. Overall, China's transportation investment has gradually entered the stage of optimizing the structure, improving quality and efficiency. We will balance incremental construction and inventory optimization, and pay more attention to efficiency, quality, safety and resilience.

During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, we will insist on being moderately ahead of the curve, and adopt stronger and more effective policies and measures to stabilize investment in transportation and stabilize the overall economy. On the one hand, it is to preserve excellence and promote innovation, support the speedy implementation of strategically significant projects involving national security, and with urgent needs and good benefits, and expand investment in emerging fields. On the other hand, it is putting pressure on the bad and deficient, focusing on reducing projects with low efficiency, low utilization rates, and repeated homogenization, and strictly preventing new business format projects in new fields from being hyped up and rushed up all at once.

Looking at the method: Railways will focus on investing in the construction of high-speed rail main channel projects to be penetrated, as well as projects such as freight network upgrading, container multimodal transport, unblocking hubs, and improving railway safety and resilience; the highway will focus on investing in the construction of strategic backbone corridors, improving quality and efficiency, and improving safety and resilience; water transportation will focus on investing in the Yangtze River Main Line waterway, Yangtze River Delta high-grade waterway network, and port capacity improvement projects for large coastal shipping capacity; civil aviation will focus on investing in projects to improve the capacity of airports with saturated capacity Expansion projects, and benefits In a regional airport project to fill traffic gaps and improve safety standards.

Thank you.

Shanghai Securities Journal:

The “Outline” of the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” suggests that it is necessary to resolutely break down the card blockages that hinder the construction of a unified national market, promote the smooth flow of commodity factor resources on a wider scale, and distribute goods and services more efficiently and at a lower cost across regions. What other key tasks need to be done in order to improve the efficiency of commodity circulation in the next step?

Kou Rong:

Thank you for your question. Improving the circulation efficiency of various types of products and reducing distribution costs is an important part of building a modern circulation system. In recent years, the distribution efficiency of products in China has improved markedly. The time for melons, fruits and vegetables from field to table is getting shorter and shorter; there are more and more “same-day delivery” and “next day delivery” of products purchased online. The key to further improving the efficiency of commodity circulation is “cost reduction”. Specifically, we will start by reducing logistics costs and transaction costs.

In terms of reducing logistics costs. Our committee will work with relevant departments to further implement the tasks of effectively reducing logistics costs for the whole society, focusing on logistics network construction, coordinating “major arteries” and “microcirculation”, “hard construction” and “soft connectivity”, “internal circulation” and “external connectivity” to solidly promote the construction and interconnection of logistics hubs, enhance the carrying capacity of logistics channels, make up for shortcomings in urban and rural logistics facilities, and tighten the international logistics facility network to systematically reduce logistics costs for the whole society.

In terms of reducing transaction costs. There are many industry segments in the distribution sector, and the upstream and downstream chains are long. Transaction costs are an important part of the circulation costs of the whole society. We will combine and improve the modern trade circulation system to further smooth the flow of commerce, capital, and information. For example, we will encourage retail enterprises to provide value-added services such as product customization, promote product production and marketing collaboration, and promote accurate production and marketing; vigorously develop circulation methods such as “direct delivery from place of origin” and “direct factory supply” to further reduce intermediate costs; support large-scale distribution enterprises to build digital supply chain platforms, cross-border trade service platforms, etc., to drive the win-win development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; promote unified rules and mutual recognition of standards in the distribution field; expand data sharing and exchange; improve financial services, etc.

In addition, relevant departments will also introduce specific policies and measures for the circulation of some key commodities. Taking fresh agricultural products as an example, it will further strengthen the market system and inspection capacity building for fresh agricultural products, speed up the completion of shortcomings in field precooling and cold chain distribution centers, build a number of wholesale markets for key agricultural products, strive to reduce the circulation loss of fresh agricultural products, and promote the circulation of fresh agricultural products to accelerate modernization, transformation and upgrading.

Thank you.

First Finance:

The distribution of water resources in our country is very uneven. Currently, some regions still have problems with insufficient water supply capacity and low irrigation rates. What measures were taken during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period to improve water supply capacity, irrigation capacity, and ensure food security?

Kwan Seok-fan:

Thanks for asking. Everyone knows that the basic water conditions in our country are summer floods and winter, and the northern shortage is poor in the south. The distribution of water resources does not match the layout of productivity. For example, the Huanghuai Sea basin accounts for about 15% of the country's total area, and the provinces involved account for about 40% of the country's total population and economy, yet only 7% of the country's total water resources. This requires us to carry out optimal allocation of water resources across watersheds and regions to enhance the regulation and supply capacity of water resources. This is also an important purpose and task of water network construction. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, we will mainly work in the following three areas.

The first is to speed up the improvement of the main artery of the national water network, that is, to further develop the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. By the end of September this year, the first phase of the East-Central Line project had transferred more than 91 billion cubic meters of water to the north, covering a population of nearly 200 million people, allowing people along the route to drink stable, clean, and safe Yangtze River water. Construction of the Central Line River Diversion Project began in 2022. During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, construction of the second phase of the East Line project will also be promoted, the water supply capacity of the central line project will be improved, and the macro-allocation pattern of the country's water resources will be continuously improved.

The second is to improve regional water supply guarantee capabilities. The focus is on improving the backbone water distribution channels of the national water network, promoting the construction of a number of major regional water diversion and key water source projects, and providing water source guarantees for key economic zones and urban agglomerations. For example, the Sichuan Dajimin Project focuses on solving problems such as the Chengdu Plain's reliance on a single source of water supply in the Minjiang River and the risk of water supply volume and quality during the dry season. While meeting urban and rural living and industrial water supply, it also takes into account agricultural irrigation water needs. After construction, the project will benefit 8 cities, 43 counties, and more than 34 million people in Sichuan.

The third is to comprehensively promote the construction and transformation of the irrigation area. Irrigation areas play an important supporting role in ensuring food security. Take large-scale irrigation areas as an example. 463 large-scale irrigation areas have been built across the country, with a design area of 330 million mu. Grain production and total agricultural output value exceed 1/4 of the country's total. Many large-scale irrigation areas were built at an early age, and there are problems of aging, disrepair, and inefficiency, which seriously affects the performance of irrigation functions. The “15th Five-Year Plan” period will completely modernize a number of large-scale irrigation areas. For example, the Qingtongxia Irrigation Area, which has now started construction, is the sixth largest irrigation area in the country and the largest irrigation area in Ningxia. The design area is 5.06 million mu, accounting for 1/4 of the total arable land area in Ningxia. After the renovation, it is expected to save more than 53 million cubic meters of water and increase grain production by 320,000 tons. At the same time, irrigation development needs and soil and water resource conditions are taken into account in an integrated manner, and a number of large and medium-sized irrigation areas have been built in regions with suitable soil and water resources conditions, such as the Northeast, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the southwest, to promote the transformation of more farmland from “watching the sky” to preserving harvests from droughts and floods, stabilizing yield and high yield.

Li Chao:

That's all for today's press conference. If you have any further questions in the future, you can contact the Information Office. Thank you all for your attention and see you soon.

This article was selected from the official website of the “National Development and Reform Commission”, Zhitong Finance Editor: Li Fu.