China issues white paper on rural road development

China's State Council Information Office on Friday released a white paper titled "China's Rural Roads in the New Era" to introduce the achievements and vision of rural road development in the new era and to share China's experience.

The total length of rural roads reached 4.6 million kilometers by the end of 2023, an increase of 21.7 percent over 2013, enough to circle the equator 115 times, the white paper said.

So far, the country has put in place a rural transport infrastructure network in which county roads connect rural and urban areas, township roads crisscross, and village roads facilitate travel between households and farmland, it said.

In creating a path to prosperity for rural people, China has taken extraordinary steps and made an enormous effort to expedite the development of rural transport in poor areas, said the white paper.

Since 2014, more than 1.4 million km of rural roads have been built or upgraded in previously poor areas, all towns, townships and administrative villages where conditions allow had been connected to paved roads by 2019, and all such villages had been connected to bus services by 2020, the white paper noted.

Better transport has cleared bottlenecks that had long delayed economic and social development in poor areas, and has laid a solid foundation for rural people to realize moderate prosperity in all respects, it said.

According to the white paper, the steady development of transport facilities in rural areas has attracted more capital, projects and talent to the countryside, creating more job opportunities and broadening the avenues for income growth.

At present, rural road construction projects provide work for about 80,000 people in need as a form of relief, enabling an annual average per capita income increase of around 8,500 yuan (about $1,182.57), the white paper noted.

About 850,000 jobs are provided in rural road management and maintenance, offering an annual average per capita income of approximately 13,000 yuan, it said.

In advancing rural revitalization across the board, the government continues to integrate rural roads into the overall economic development of rural areas, by supporting modernization of rural industries, boosting rural tourism and making efficient use of distinctive resources in rural areas, according to the white paper.

The rural road development also helps create a beautiful and harmonious countryside by allowing the extension of basic public services to the rural areas and accelerating urban-rural exchanges and integration, the white paper noted.

Sharing development experience

China has shared its development experience and helped construct rural road infrastructure in other developing countries over the years, contributing substantially to poverty reduction, people's well-being and sustainable global development, the white paper noted.

These efforts include providing technical standards for highway engineering suited to different national conditions. China has made great efforts in standardization and promoted innovative, cooperative, green and open development powered by standards, according to the white paper titled "China's Rural Roads in the New Era" issued by the State Council Information Office.

China's highway standards have been applied in hundreds of projects in dozens of countries around the world, including Indonesia's Surabaya-Madura Bridge Project and Mozambique's Maputo-Katembe Bridge Project, according to the white paper.

China has also played an active role in building new platforms and mechanisms for global transport cooperation and in promoting knowledge and experience sharing.

For instance, the country has established the Global Sustainable Transport Innovation and Knowledge Center as a platform for cooperation and exchanges and for sharing China's experience in rural road development with the international community, the white paper said.

China has also shared its experience through international training sessions. The country has held 28 training sessions, including a training program on road design and management in Botswana, and an advanced training program on highway engineering for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, the white paper said.

Additionally, China has supported and participated in rural road construction projects, and provided aid and assistance to a large number of rural road infrastructure projects in other developing countries.

Since 2018, China has supported 24 developing countries including Cambodia, Serbia, Rwanda, Namibia, Vanuatu and Niger in highway and bridge construction and maintenance, helping such countries improve transport infrastructure, according to the white paper.

(With input from Xinhua)