Salute to the trendsetters! The filming of the 40-year series of feature films on major country decoration has started. By the Lingdingyang, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link lies like a long rainbow across the waves, setting multiple world records at once and bringing Shenzhen and Zhongshan into a "half-hour living circle";

On the coast of the East China Sea, the world's largest port, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, has rows of terminals and shuttling giant ships, serving trade exchanges and leaping development vitality;

By the Jinsha River, Abuluoha Village in Sichuan has successively been connected by hardened roads and bus services, transforming from a "cliff village" into a "happy village";

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"Since the founding of New China, generations have opened roads through mountains and built bridges over waters, building a major transportation country and now accelerating the building of a strong transportation nation," pointed out General Secretary Xi Jinping.

The comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network exceeds 6 million kilometers, railway operating mileage is nearly 160,000 kilometers, and rural road mileage reaches 4.6 million kilometers... From China's bridges and ports to China's roads, since the new era, high-quality transportation development has been solidly advanced, the building of a strong transportation nation has been continuously accelerated, and transportation has become the pioneer of Chinese-style modernization.‍

A bridge setting 10 world records

At the Pearl River Estuary and Lingdingyang, a "two-way rush" of passenger and freight flows is unfolding:

In 1 hour, traffic volume exceeds 7,000 vehicle trips; in 1 day, over 125,000 vehicle trips; in the first week, over 720,000 vehicle trips; in the first month, over 3 million vehicle trips... The "super project" Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link had just opened when it was already bustling with traffic.

▲Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link

Behind the huge traffic volume is hardcore strength. Driving from Ma'an Island in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province onto the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, the world's highest navigable clearance sea bridge—the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge with a main span of 1,666 meters—towers into the clouds; to the east, the vast West Artificial Island is like a "Kunpeng spreading its wings," once setting a world record for rapid island formation; further ahead, the approximately 6.8-kilometer immersed tube tunnel dives under the sea, the world's longest and widest steel-shell concrete immersed tube tunnel... After 7 years of construction, this approximately 24-kilometer cross-sea cluster project integrating "bridge, island, tunnel, and underwater interchange" has overcome many world-class technical challenges and set 10 world records.

Not just the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link. In 2018, the world's longest sea-crossing bridge in overall span—the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge—was completed, "linking three places with one bridge"; at present, the Shiziyang Channel connecting Guangzhou and Dongguan is under intense construction and will become the world's largest-span double-deck suspension bridge upon completion... World-class sea-crossing bridges are successively landing in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, helping the world-class bay area stride forward.

Not just bridges. Crossing various landforms, the Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway has become the world's longest expressway traversing deserts and gobi; overcoming geological challenges, the new Chengdu-Kunming Railway shortens the travel time from Chengdu to Kunming by about 12 hours; accelerating intelligent transformation, the Qingdao Port automated terminal achieves unmanned operations... Since the new era, infrastructure construction has changed with each passing day, the scale and quality of the comprehensive transportation network have reached new levels, and coverage and accessibility have continuously improved.

By the end of 2023, railway operating mileage was nearly 160,000 kilometers, six times that of 1949, of which high-speed rail operating mileage reached 45,000 kilometers, accounting for more than two-thirds of the world's total; highway mileage was nearly 5.44 million kilometers, 66 times that of 1949, of which expressway mileage was 184,000 kilometers, ranking first in the world... Today's China has built the world's largest high-speed railway network, expressway network, and port cluster, with aviation and shipping reaching the world, and the main skeleton of the national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network of "6 axes, 7 corridors, and 8 channels" is taking shape at an accelerated pace.

From "bottleneck constraints" to "basic adaptation" and then to "moderate advancement," a comprehensive transportation network exceeding 6 million kilometers has laid a solid foundation for comprehensively advancing the building of a strong nation and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization.

A port connecting over 200 countries and regions

Masts and sails stand in rows, and ships come and go. Since 2024, the 20 port areas of Ningbo Zhoushan Port have been operating at full capacity, completing 26.123 million TEUs of container throughput in the first eight months, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%.

Ports are foundational and pivotal facilities and important support for economic development. Today's Ningbo Zhoushan Port, externally, has more than 300 container routes connecting over 600 ports in more than 200 countries and regions, with a maritime shipping trade network reaching the world; internally, efficient connections with other modes of transportation are also accelerating—

On August 30, a loud whistle sounded as a sea-rail intermodal train loaded with goods departed from Jinhua South Station. After arriving at Ningbo Zhoushan Port via the Ningbo-Jinhua Railway, these goods will be exported to Europe by sea.

At the end of 2023, the Ningbo-Jinhua Railway, which took 7 years to build, opened to traffic. Passing through Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Jinhua cities in Zhejiang, it closely connects Ningbo Zhoushan Port and Yiwu, becoming one of the most convenient channels for goods from the "world's capital of small commodities" to go overseas.

"Through sea-rail intermodal transport via the Ningbo-Jinhua Railway, the freight mileage from Yiwu to Ningbo Zhoushan Port is reduced by nearly 100 kilometers, and transportation timeliness is more guaranteed," said the head of the business department of Ningbo Zhoushan Port. Today, an average of three trains per day carry hundreds of TEUs of goods from Yiwu via railway to Ningbo Zhoushan Port and then to destinations around the world.

Establishing route connections with more than 100 countries and regions, maritime connectivity leads the world; total civil aviation turnover ranks second in the world, with dense routes reaching the globe; China-Europe freight trains reach more than 200 cities in 25 European countries, becoming a "steel camel caravan" boosting regional economic and trade development... Multiple modes of transportation are efficiently coordinated, and the "national 123 travel traffic circle" and "global 123 fast freight logistics circle" are accelerating. Today's China, on average, has over 160 million person-trips of cross-regional travel per day, about 150 million tons of freight turnover, and a maximum daily express handling capacity of over 700 million pieces...

People enjoy their journeys, and goods flow smoothly. A comprehensive transportation system of huge scale, smooth internally and connected externally, makes mobile China full of vitality and provides strong support for the steady and long-term development of China's economy.

A road turning a "cliff village" into a "happy village"

During the White Dew season, the Daliang Mountains are misty with rain and cool. Deep in the mountains, rows of houses are arranged in picturesque disorder, with lush trees around them.

"With the road reaching the doorstep, the villagers have more confidence and higher spirits. In the past five years, we have planted navel oranges, raised goats, and opened homestays. The per capita net income of the whole village has increased year after year, reaching 13,700 yuan last year. The 'cliff village' has truly become a 'happy village'!" said Jilie Ziri, Party branch secretary of Abuluoha Village, Butuo County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.

▲Village road of Abuluoha Village

Back then, building a road in Abuluoha, surrounded by mountains on three sides and a cliff on one side, was no easy task!

Entering the Sichuan Transportation Poverty Alleviation Exhibition Hall located in the village center, a photograph records a historic moment: in the picture, a helicopter extends a long sling, carrying a large excavator in stable flight.

That was December 31, 2019. With three tunnels piercing the cliff and a steel bridge connecting the natural chasm, after 20 months, the less-than-4-kilometer village road was finally completed. The 65 households no longer need to climb mountains and cliffs to leave the village; they can get out in just over 10 minutes and reach the county town in two hours. At this point, all incorporated villages in China with the necessary conditions have been connected by roads.

"Only under the leadership of the Party would roads be built in such remote places as Abuluoha, enabling villagers to realize the dream of shaking off poverty and becoming prosperous," Jilie Ziri said with emotion.

Roads to prosperity, roads to happiness, roads that connect hearts, roads to revitalization—rural roads one after another continuously enhance the sense of gain, happiness, and security of farmers. From 2014 to 2023, China built or upgraded more than 2.5 million kilometers of rural roads, solving the problem of hardened road access for 821 townships and 70,600 incorporated villages. "Dusty in sunny days and muddy in rainy days" has become history, and the dream of "hardened roads at the doorstep and buses at a step" has come true.

Chinese-style modernization is modernization with a huge population. All the work of the Party and the government is for the people to live a happier life. From rural roads reaching towns and fields to low-priced, bus-like "slow trains," from accelerating the coverage of urban public transport to promoting "barrier-free renovation" of transportation facilities... Since the new era, China has adhered to the direction of inclusiveness, basic guarantee, equalization, and sustainability, vigorously promoted the equalization of basic public services in urban and rural areas, ensured that urban and rural residents have access to transportation, and let the people share the fruits of transportation development.

"In the nearly five years since the issuance of the Outline for Building a Strong Transportation Nation, China's comprehensive transportation strength has achieved a substantial leap, taking a big step toward the goal of being people-satisfied, strongly guaranteed, and world-leading," said Li Xiaopeng, Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of Transport. The transportation system will work hard, make persistent efforts, strive to accelerate the building of a strong transportation nation, and submit an excellent answer on the new journey toward the second centenary goal.