On January 3, the 2024 Hunan Provincial Major Projects Centralized Commencement Ceremony was held simultaneously in Yueyang, Yiyang, and Changsha, with 11 major projects breaking ground, involving a total investment of 87.2 billion yuan and an annual planned investment of 14.3 billion yuan.

Among them, the transportation projects specifically include: three expressway projects—the Chenzhou to Guiyang section of the Guixin Expressway, the Chating Interchange to Changsha Ring Expressway section of the Xuguang Expressway, and the Liuyang to Jiangbei Expressway—as well as five waterway projects: the Yugong Port railway dedicated line in Xiangyin County, the Xiangjiang Changsha to Chenglingji Class I waterway, the second-line ship lock at the Yuanshui Taoyuan Hub, the Daorenji Wharf of the Yueyang Port Chenglingji Modern Port Cluster, and the Songyang Lake Phase III Project.

Chenzhou to Guiyang Section of the Guixin Expressway

Located within Suxian District, Beihu District, and Guiyang County of Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, the route starts in Suxian District on the east side of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, crosses westward over the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, National Highway 107, Provincial Highway 211, the Xihe River, and the Chongling River, and ends at the Chongling River Hub Interchange of the G0421 Xuguang Expressway, connecting directly with the Guiyang to Xintian section of the Guidong to Xintian (Ningyuan) Expressway in Hunan Province. The main line of this project has a total length of approximately 64.201 km and is built to a two-way, four-lane expressway standard, with a design speed of 100 km/h and a subgrade width of 26 m.

Chating Interchange to Changsha Ring Expressway Section of the Xuguang Expressway

The Chating Interchange to Changsha Ring Expressway section of the Xuguang Expressway is a radial line extending from Changsha toward the northwest and a rapid corridor between Changsha and Yueyang. The main line starts at the Chating Interchange of the Xuguang Expressway (Yueyang-Wangcheng section), passes through Qiaoyi Town, crosses over the Shahe River and the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway in the south of Changhuzhou, passes through Xinyuan Community, Tiansheng Community, and Qunli Community, then runs along the existing Zhongqing Road as an elevated bridge, and ends at the Laodaohe Hub Interchange, connecting with the Changsha Ring Expressway, with a total length of approximately 23.3 km. The main line is built to a two-way, six-lane expressway standard, with a design speed of 120 km/h and a subgrade width of 34 m. A total of four interchanges are set along the entire line—Chating (hub), Qiaoyi, Qingzhuhu, and Laodaohe (hub)—and a Qiaoyi connecting line of approximately 2.2 km is also provided. The estimated total investment of the project is 7.25 billion yuan.

Liuyang to Jiangbei Expressway

The route generally runs east-west, starting in the east at Chayuanwan, Changqing Village, Jili Subdistrict, Liuyang, connecting with the already-built Liuyang to Hongkoujie Expressway, passing westward through Taipingqiao, Tangjiayuan, and Gejia Town, and ending at Dongmaochong, Zhentou Town, connecting with the already-built Jiangbei to Ganshan Expressway, with a total length of approximately 26.8 km. The main line is built to a two-way, four-lane expressway standard, with a design speed of 100 km/h and a subgrade width of 26 m. A total of four interchanges are set along the entire line—Chayuanwan (hub), Taipingqiao, Gejia, and Jiangbei (hub)—and a Xihushan connecting line of approximately 2.4 km and a Taipingqiao Interchange connecting line of approximately 1.4 km are also provided. The estimated total investment of the project is 5.39 billion yuan.

Rendering of the Baishi Tunnel on the Liujiang Expressway

It is understood that this batch of newly started highway and waterway projects is of great significance for smoothing Hunan's major "cross-shaped" highway and waterway corridors, improving the modern comprehensive transportation system, and promoting regional economic and social development.

In addition to the abovetransportation infrastructure projects, the Sinopec Yueyang 1-million-ton ethylene refining and chemical integration and refining supporting renovation project also broke ground today, with a total investment of 35.7 billion yuan and an annual planned investment of 3.6 billion yuan, making it the largest single industrial project by investment in Hunan to date. The Jintangchong Reservoir Project, with a total investment of 9.8 billion yuan and an annual planned investment of 2.5 billion yuan, is one of the ten landmark projects in Hunan's "14th Five-Year Plan" water security plan. The Shaanmei Miluo 2×1,000 MW coal-fired power generation project, with a total investment of 8.5 billion yuan and a planned investment of 1.2 billion yuan in 2024, is an important supporting power source and a key supply-guarantee project for the late "14th Five-Year Plan" and early "15th Five-Year Plan" period in Hunan.

Table of the First Batch of Major Projects Started in Hunan Province in 2024