2020 was an extraordinary year in the history of transportation development in New China. Facing the severe challenges and enormous difficulties of serving the fight against the epidemic, the transportation industry, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, resolutely implemented the central government's decisions and arrangements on "six stabilizations" and "six guarantees," coordinated epidemic prevention and control with production and construction, efficiently organized the supply of epidemic prevention and daily necessities, ensured the rapid arrival of tens of thousands of medical personnel aiding Hubei, and organized services for the resumption of work and production. A large number of major transportation projects started construction and were put into operation, which not only ensured that the annual construction investment scale rose against the trend and pushed the scale and quality of transportation infrastructure to a new level, but also contributed to the economy turning from negative to positive growth. In stabilizing industrial and supply chains and smoothing the economic cycle, the transportation industry accelerated innovative organization methods, dynamically and promptly adjusted passenger transport service supply, opened up domestic and international material circulation channels by sea, land, and air, and achieved positive performance in multiple transport indicators, demonstrating the transportation sector's responsibility in supporting epidemic prevention and control and economic and social operations. The good performance of transportation in 2020 created conditions for China to successfully complete the tasks of the 13th Five-Year Plan, better undertake national missions, serve major strategies, comprehensively expand opening-up, and support new urbanization construction. It provided strong support for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and laid a solid foundation for building a modern socialist country.

I. A large number of major transportation projects were accelerated

In 2020, in accordance with the requirements for coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development, and in line with the planning tasks of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, a large number of major projects were accelerated. The Ya'an-Linzhi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway officially started construction, the main body of the Wuhan-Anqing 6-meter water depth channel regulation project was completed, and a number of expansion and renovation projects for national expressways, ordinary national highways yet to be connected, and congested sections were implemented. The level of networking and integration of infrastructure continued to improve, comprehensive transport corridors running east-west and north-south were accelerated, transportation connectivity in areas承载 national major regional strategies was networked, and the depth of access in old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority areas, border areas, and poverty-stricken areas was further improved. Transportation infrastructure was accelerated in interconnection, and various modes of transport became more integrated and coordinated, providing an efficient network foundation for integrated regional and urban-rural development.

From the perspective of giving play to the strategic supporting and leading role of transportation, the Belt and Road transportation infrastructure was accelerated in interconnection, and connectivity among regions along the routes was strengthened. Pakistan's Lahore Orange Line Metro and the left line of the Serbia Beograd-Zemun and Zemun-Batajnica sections of the Hungary-Serbia Railway were opened for operation. The integration of transportation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was accelerated, the Beijing-Xiong'an Intercity Railway was fully connected, and the one-hour transportation circle in the core area of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei was accelerating. The high-quality development of the comprehensive transportation system in the Yangtze River Economic Belt was steadily advanced, and substantive progress was made in the construction of port collection and distribution railways along the Yangtze River. The infrastructure network of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was accelerated, and the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-Speed Railway, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, and the Phase III expansion of Baiyun Airport were steadily under construction. The integration of transportation in the Yangtze River Delta moved toward higher quality: the Yancheng-Nantong High-Speed Railway began trial operation, the Nanjing Yangtze River Fifth Bridge was completed, and the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Yangtze River Rail-Road Bridge was put into operation. Major transportation projects and policies for ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin and for comprehensively deepening reform and opening-up in Hainan were steadily implemented, making regional personnel exchanges and cargo circulation significantly more convenient and helping enhance regional competitive positions.

II. The scale of transportation fixed asset investment reached a new level

After overcoming the enormous difficulty of a sharp decline in completed transportation construction investment in the first quarter due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transportation industry insisted on seizing project progress and resuming work and production as soon as possible. It not only kept the original annual planned targets from shrinking or decreasing, but also proactively increased pressure and made every effort to expand effective investment, striving to play the stabilizing role of transportation construction investment in promoting growth. Relevant departments and units accelerated project approval progress, simplified approval procedures, actively planned major projects, implemented the Government Work Report's deployment to "increase national railway construction investment by 100 billion yuan," issued central budget and vehicle purchase tax funds in advance, and various localities actively made good use of policies such as local government special bonds and special anti-epidemic government bonds, creating a "double high" record in recent years for both the total amount and growth rate of transportation investment. The annual transportation fixed asset investment exceeded 3.4 trillion yuan, an increase of about 200 billion yuan over the previous year.

By mode, national railway fixed asset investment was about 781.9 billion yuan, an increase of 71.9 billion yuan over the initial plan, of which capital construction investment exceeded 555 billion yuan, surpassing the 2019 level. Highway and waterway investment is expected to exceed 2.5 trillion yuan, making the main contribution to annual investment growth. Civil aviation investment was about 105 billion yuan, exceeding the 100 billion yuan mark for the first time. The upward trend of transportation investment against the headwinds fully implemented the counter-cyclical macro-control policy, expanded domestic demand, filled shortcomings, smoothed circulation, and reduced costs. It not only played an emergency role but also created long-term benefits, strongly supporting the deepening of supply-side structural reform.

III. The total mileage of the comprehensive transportation network passed a new threshold

By the end of 2020, the national comprehensive transportation network mileage is expected to exceed 5.5 million kilometers. The tasks of the 13th Five-Year Plan for transportation were successfully completed, and the increasingly dense comprehensive transportation network has become an important skeleton and bloodline for the operation of the national economy. Among them, 4,933 kilometers of new railway lines were put into operation, including more than 2,000 kilometers of high-speed rail. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, railway construction set historical achievements: the national railway operating mileage increased from 121,000 kilometers to 146,300 kilometers, an increase of 20.9%; high-speed rail mileage increased from 19,800 kilometers to 37,900 kilometers, nearly doubling; the double-track rate increased from 53.5% to 59.5%; and the electrification rate increased from 61.8% to 72.8%. The "four vertical and four horizontal" high-speed rail network was completed ahead of schedule, and the "eight vertical and eight horizontal" high-speed rail network was densified and formed, becoming a Chinese calling card that "leads the world" in China's comprehensive transportation field. The supporting and leading functions of highways, waterways, and civil aviation also continued to strengthen. In 2020, 12,713 kilometers of expressways were newly built or expanded, and the national expressway mileage exceeded 150,000 kilometers. 269,000 kilometers of rural roads were newly built or reconstructed, 181,000 kilometers of safety life protection projects for township roads and above were completed, 6,580 dangerous bridges were renovated, and the total national highway mileage is expected to exceed 5.1 million kilometers. About 600 kilometers of high-grade waterways were newly added or improved, and the expressway mileage and the number of 10,000-ton berths remained the world's first. Four new civil transport airports were certified, bringing the number of certified transport airports to 241, and civil aviation airports covered 92% of prefecture-level administrative regions.

The depth, breadth, and quality level of transportation coverage were greatly improved, effectively guaranteeing the improvement of people's livelihood services. By the end of 2020, China's high-speed rail covered nearly 95% of cities with a population of over one million, and bullet trains carried 65% of railway passenger volume. Expressways covered nearly 100% of cities with a population of over 200,000. Civil aviation airports covered 92% of prefecture-level administrative regions, the on-time flight rate reached 88.52% in 2020, and general aviation developed rapidly. The 500-meter coverage rate of bus stops in cities with a population of over one million was about 100%. The most basic livelihood travel services for comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society were continuously improved. The "railway network + trackless stations" benefited more than 600 remote mountain villages, there were more than 30,000 express delivery outlets and more than 60,000 public pickup and delivery points in rural areas nationwide, the coverage rate of township express delivery outlets reached 98%, 100% of incorporated villages had postal services, and a multi-level travel and multi-node logistics network was gradually formed.

IV. Passenger transport production achieved a smooth transition and rapid recovery

Affected by measures such as sluggish global personnel flows and regional lockdowns, the passenger transport industry faced unprecedented downward pressure. However, with the strong domestic economic recovery and the in-depth implementation of precise supply and protection policies, the passenger transport industry accelerated its recovery after the second quarter and generally achieved a smooth transition in fighting the epidemic, preventing it, and developing.

To support the victory in the defense of Wuhan and Hubei in epidemic prevention and control, the passenger transport industry responded quickly and went all out to assist, strictly implemented control of channels leaving Wuhan and Hubei, and made every effort to ensure the rapid arrival of more than 42,000 medical personnel aiding Hubei. In the stage of regular epidemic prevention and control, the passenger transport industry dynamically adjusted, refined, and improved prevention and control measures according to time, situation, and need, strictly implemented prevention and control requirements for transport vehicles and stations, strictly "prevented imported cases," implemented epidemic prevention and control for industry practitioners and inbound personnel, ensured epidemic prevention and control in key areas such as the capital, and responded precisely and efficiently to sporadic outbreaks in some areas. Railway enterprises, market-oriented, dynamically adjusted passenger transport capacity supply, precisely implemented "one map per day," fully promoted electronic tickets, and passengers could "pass with one ID" at 2,878 high-speed rail and conventional rail stations nationwide, benefiting more than 99% of railway travelers. At the same time, railway enterprises retained and improved traditional ticket sales and collection methods to ensure the travel needs of the elderly and people without internet access, meeting the diverse market needs of passengers. National railways completed 2.16 billion passenger trips for the year.

After the epidemic situation in Wuhan and Hubei was effectively controlled, the passenger transport industry showed a good recovery trend. Among them, in November, commercial passenger volume recovered to 67.4% of the same period of the previous year, with railway recovering to 79.4%, highway to 63.1%, waterway to 72.6%, and civil aviation to 83.7%. Public transport passenger volume in 36 central cities nationwide recovered to 83.4% of the same period of the previous year. For the year, urban rail transit actually operated 25.28 million train trips, completed 17.59 billion passenger trips, and had 10.91 billion station entries, of which the fourth quarter recovered to 94.1% of the same period of the previous year. Ride-hailing averaged 21 million orders per day, and shared bicycles averaged 45.7 million orders per day. From September to November, the scale of ride-hailing orders on the Didi platform increased by 9.2% compared with the same period last year. Customized passenger transport and integrated smart travel service platforms continued to emerge, playing an important role in ensuring the normal operation of urban production and life.

V. Multiple freight production indicators achieved positive growth against the trend

The COVID-19 pandemic raged globally. China was the first major country to control the epidemic and the only major economy to achieve positive growth in both the economy and trade in goods. Multiple freight indicators achieved positive growth, and the freight industry improved in both volume and quality.

Domestic and international freight rose against the trend and became a global highlight. In 2020, China's railway, express delivery, port production, new freight formats, and international freight trains all achieved rapid growth, and the transport volume and turnover of railway, highway, waterway, and civil aviation ranked among the world's top. In detail, national railway cargo volume was 3.58 billion tons, an increase of 141 million tons year-on-year, up 4.1%, of which container volume was 458 million tons, up 37% year-on-year; high-speed rail express was 44,000 tons, up 40% year-on-year. For the year, the total business volume and business revenue of the postal industry reached 2.1 trillion yuan and 1.1 trillion yuan, up 29.4% and 14.1% year-on-year, respectively. Express delivery business volume and revenue reached 83 billion pieces and 875 billion yuan, up 30.8% and 16.7% year-on-year, respectively, and express delivery business volume quadrupled compared with the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan. Port cargo throughput reached about 14.57 billion tons, up 4.4% year-on-year. "Internet + freight logistics" developed rapidly, with online freight averaging 130,000 orders per day. The strategic channel role of China-Europe freight trains was fully utilized. For the year, 12,400 China-Europe freight trains were operated, carrying 1.135 million TEUs, up 50% and 56% year-on-year, respectively, and the comprehensive loaded container rate reached 98.4%. The industrial driving role of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor continued to emerge. For the year, 3,600 New Western Land-Sea Corridor trains were operated, carrying 190,000 TEUs, up 73% and 80% year-on-year, respectively.

While achieving scale breakthroughs in important areas, the freight industry demonstrated its sense of mission and took another step toward high-quality development. In the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, when regular international and domestic transportation was severely disrupted, relevant departments and enterprises actively coordinated to open up international and domestic cargo charter and general aviation transport channels, actively organized China-Europe freight trains, international fast ships, and land transport in neighboring countries, implemented the policy of toll-free expressways, and built "green channels" for the transport of anti-epidemic materials, playing a backbone role in the fight against the epidemic. At the same time, the adjustment of the transport structure achieved obvious results. The "road-to-rail" and "road-to-water" shifts for bulk cargo achieved results, with a cumulative railway freight increase of about 780 million tons, a waterway freight increase of 570 million tons, and a reduction of about 370 million tons in road transport of bulk cargo at coastal ports. Multimodal transport continued to advance. Three batches of 70 multimodal transport demonstration projects completed 4.8 million TEUs of container multimodal transport, and the national port container rail-water intermodal transport volume is expected to increase by 30% year-on-year. The proportion of railway freight volume in total social freight volume increased from 7.7% in 2016 to 9.9% in 2020. The transportation sector actively promoted tax and fee reductions, quantifiably reducing logistics costs by more than 130 billion yuan.

In 2021, there are still many uncertainties in epidemic changes and the external environment. The transportation industry generally shows the characteristics of recovery growth, but the production recovery situation remains unstable and unbalanced. It is necessary to deepen the supply-side structural reform of the transportation industry and take the lead in leading the new development stage and building a new development pattern. First, do a good job in regular epidemic prevention and control and transportation production and construction, coordinate epidemic prevention and control of "people" and "goods" in the transport process, prepare for the Spring Festival travel rush, which is a double "big test" of transportation and epidemic prevention, and make every effort to complete the transport tasks of anti-epidemic and daily necessities and medical personnel. Second, compile the 14th Five-Year Plan for the comprehensive transportation system, plan key tasks in the transportation field to support the construction of a new development pattern and a unified, open, and orderly market, and compile a high-quality five-year plan that can withstand the test of history. Third, precisely implement the filling of shortcomings in transportation infrastructure, solidly advance national key projects such as the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, and serve as a "pioneer" for the implementation of major strategies. Fourth, further deepen transportation reform, continuously release reform dividends, and continuously improve the soft power of transportation development and industry governance capacity.