Transportation is a foundational, pioneering, and strategic industry in the national economy.
At the State Council executive meeting held on May 9, one important agenda item was听取汇报 on the construction of the national comprehensive transportation system.
Sanlihe noted that this meeting released multiple important signals regarding the construction of a comprehensive transportation system.
Make good use of existing resources.
The meeting clearly stated the need to统筹推进 transportation infrastructure construction, focus on improving the comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, adhere to integrated布局 and systematic integration, effectively make good use of existing resources, and optimize incremental supply.
This formulation is worth pondering.
After years of large-scale construction, China’s transportation infrastructure has reached a new level. Data shows that by the end of 2023, the total mileage of China’s comprehensive transportation network had exceeded 6 million kilometers, firmly ranking first in the world. A “three-in-one” logistics network of highways, railways, and waterways has been initially established. The completion rate of the main framework of the “6 axes, 7 corridors, 8 channels” national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network has exceeded 90%, and the “8 vertical and 8 horizontal” high-speed railway network is accelerating its formation.
But after the “large-scale construction,” how to “make good use” becomes the key.
This State Council executive meeting’s proposal to “make good use of existing resources” indicates that the thinking behind transportation infrastructure construction is undergoing an important shift. We cannot only focus on new projects; we must also revitalize what exists and make good use of what is already in place. Simply put, every penny must be spent where it counts.
In fact, signs of this shift in thinking have been emerging. A relevant official from the Ministry of Transport previously stated that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the growth model for comprehensive transportation system construction will shift from large-scale incremental expansion to connotative development led by optimizing incremental supply and improving the quality of existing stock. This requires both effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth.
From “laying out摊子” to “reaching a new level,” this is an inevitable requirement of the new development stage.
Aiming at “people” and “goods.”
This meeting also proposed “improving management and service levels,” making arrangements from two aspects: “people enjoying their travel” and “goods flowing smoothly” — creating a more convenient travel environment and promoting cost reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement in freight transport.
Behind these two statements lie tangible improvements in people’s livelihoods and economic accounts.
First, look at “people enjoying their travel.” Currently, about 30 million passenger cars travel on China’s highways daily, high-speed rail sends approximately 10 million passengers, and civil aviation transports about 2 million passengers. The annual Spring Festival travel rush, involving billions of person-trips, is an ultimate test of transportation service capacity.
Second, look at “goods flowing smoothly.” In 2025, China’s total freight volume reached 59.7 billion tons, and the total value of social logistics exceeded 368 trillion yuan. The ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP has dropped to 13.9%, setting a new record since statistics began. The “Opinions on Promoting Capacity Expansion and Quality Improvement of the Service Industry” issued by the State Council in April 2026 proposed improving the multimodal transport system and promoting the implementation of the “single document system” and “single container system.” Every one percentage point reduction in logistics costs can release hundreds of billions of yuan in economic dividends for the entire society.
Cultivating new growth points.
The meeting also proposed to continuously deepen reform and innovation, build a unified and open transportation market, actively promote the application of new technologies for empowerment, safely and orderly develop new business forms in transportation, and cultivate more new growth points.
The qualifier “safely and orderly” is quite critical. This indicates that regarding the new business forms and models emerging in the transportation field, the decision-making level’s attitude is to both actively promote and regulate guidance.
What are the new business forms? For example, intelligent driving is undoubtedly one important direction.
Some experts predict that by 2026, the penetration rate of L2-level combined driving assistance functions will exceed 70%, access regulations for L3-level intelligent driving are expected to be relaxed, and pilot scopes will expand from small areas to entire cities.
The focus of reform is the “unified and open transportation market.” In 2025, the “Artificial Intelligence + Transportation” Implementation Opinions jointly issued by seven departments including the Ministry of Transport proposed accelerating the large-scale innovative application of artificial intelligence in the transportation field. These new technologies and business forms not only improve efficiency and reduce safety risks but will also give rise to trillion-yuan-level new industries, becoming new drivers for promoting high-quality development.
Ultimately, transportation is the “pioneer” of economic development. China possesses the world’s largest high-speed railway network, expressway network, postal express delivery network, and world-class port clusters. In the first year of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” the construction of a strong transportation nation is accelerating comprehensively.
This State Council executive meeting made systematic deployments from three dimensions: infrastructure, management services, and reform and innovation. It addresses current prominent issues while also outlining a roadmap for the long-term construction of a strong transportation nation.
It is foreseeable that a more efficient, more convenient, and more intelligent comprehensive transportation system is transforming from a blueprint into reality.
(Sanlihe Studio)
