According to the 2021 Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Transport Work Conference held recently, Xinjiang will continue to increase investment in transport infrastructure this year, with fixed-asset investment in transport expected to reach 58-60 billion yuan. The region's total expressway mileage is planned to exceed 6,000 kilometers, the number of counties with access to expressways (Class I highways) will increase by 9 to 89, and 5,700 kilometers of rural roads will be newly built or upgraded.
Li Xuedong, Party Secretary of the Regional Department of Transport, attended the meeting and delivered a speech, while Director Aishanjiang Aihemaiti presented the work report. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the regional transport sector will focus on "forming an inner ring within Xinjiang and speeding up access to and from the region," target weak areas and key links, accelerate the development of a well-developed rapid network, a complete trunk network, an extensive basic network, safe and convenient hubs, and an efficient collection and distribution system, and proactively serve the new development pattern.
By 2025, the region's total highway mileage will reach 220,000 kilometers, and all counties and cities except Tashkurgan County will have access to expressways (Class I highways); a number of national and provincial highway projects connecting ports, transport hubs, tourist attractions, and industrial parks will be completed one after another, and a number of urban bypass reconstruction projects will be completed and opened to traffic; with the "one port," "two zones," "five major centers," and "port economic belt" at the core, a number of national and regional transport hubs will be built, and the integrated planning and construction of comprehensive transport hubs will be advanced. Demonstration work for building a transport powerhouse will achieve landmark results, basically realizing "forming an inner ring within Xinjiang and speeding up access to and from the region," and basically meeting the requirements of high-quality economic development.
This year, guided by accelerating the Xinjiang pilot for building a transport powerhouse, Xinjiang will focus on the 14th Five-Year Plan and the layout of the integrated multi-dimensional transport network, fully advance key work, and accelerate high-quality transport development. It plans to implement 67 transport construction projects, strive to complete and open 25 projects including the Ruoqiang-Minfeng Expressway; accelerate the construction of 31 projects including the Urumqi-Yuli Expressway, and start construction on 9 projects including the Urumqi Ring Expressway (West Line) project.
Xinjiang will encourage rural road construction to extend more toward villages and households, systematically implement access to Class III highways for townships and dual-lane roads for administrative villages where conditions permit, and accelerate the upgrading of rural roads; it plans to build 2 desert scenic routes and create 2 themed service areas; focusing on premium tourist scenic routes and self-driving routes, it will improve vehicle traffic quality and service levels, enhance the safety guarantee capacity of highway transport services for tourism industry development, continue special service improvement actions, and build facilities such as gas stations and charging piles at 16 expressway service areas.
It is reported that in 2020, Xinjiang achieved 54.393 billion yuan in fixed-asset investment in transport.