Rail link boosts Yangtze delta growth

A NEW high-speed railway, connecting east and central China, opened yesterday to serve regional integrated development.

With a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the section links Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui Province, with Huzhou in Zhejiang Province.

The stretch extends south to Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, and north to Shangqiu, central China’s Henan Province, via already operating high-speed railways.

As G9394 pulled out of the Hefei South Railway Station at 8:56am yesterday, Chen Tao said he felt excited to be among the first batch of passengers on the new route, heading for Hangzhou.

“I have to travel between the two cities for business reasons about five times a month. The new route provides me with a faster choice,” said the 25-yearold who arrived in Hangzhou, more than 400km from Hefei, in about two hours.

With a total length of 794.55km, the Shangqiu-HefeiHangzhou high-speed railway can help further promote the development of central China and the regional integration of the Yangtze River Delta.

The region consists of the Shanghai Municipality, and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Last year, China unveiled an outline for the regional integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, which is one of the country’s most economically active, open and innovative regions, and produces about a quarter of national GDP.

Local governments have rolled out a raft of measures to enhance cooperation and communication in the region.

Transportation interconnection is just one example of the coordinated development.

The investment for railway construction in the Yangtze River Delta is expected to hit more than 87 billion yuan (US$12 billion) this year, with the total length of new railway lines to exceed 1,000km, according to the China Railway Shanghai Group.

“The opening of the new route ends the history of no railways in our county, and makes our transportation network with the outside more comprehensive,” said Shen Mingquan, secretary of Anji County Committee of the Communist Party of China.

“The development of our company can also benefit from the new route, as it makes business exchanges more convenient.”

(Xinhua)

Staff at a gas station refuel vehicles in Xingtai City, north China’s Hebei Province. China will raise the retail prices of gasoline and diesel from today, the country’s top economic planner said yesterday. Gas prices will go up 120 yuan (US$17) per ton, while diesel will increase 110 yuan per ton, the National Development and Reform Commission said. It is the first hike for oil prices this year. — Xinhua