The information office of the Jining municipal government held a press conference on the city's highway construction over the past five years on Dec 24.

In recent years, Jining has been making strong efforts to accelerate construction of highways. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the city's investment in road construction reached a record high of 31.66 billion yuan ($4.84 billion).

Investment in highway construction amounted to 18.43 billion yuan, four times higher than the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15). Investment in general road network construction was 13.23 billion yuan, 1.6 times higher than the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15).

To date, the city's national and provincial trunk roads have increased from 1,586 kilometers in 2015 to 1,758 kilometers, an increase of 11 percent.

Cao Jianjun, director of the Jining Highway Development Center,  said that the city has built a highway network consisting of the Beijing-Taipei Expressway, Rizhao-Lankao High-speed Railway, Jinan-Heze Speedway, Jinan-Xuzhou Expressway, Zaozhuang-Heze Expressway, Dongjiakou-Liangshan Expressway, seven national highways and 14 provincial highways, which have provided strong support for its economic and social development.

Li Xiangjun, chief of the Planning and Statistics Section of the Jining Highway Development Center, said that project management will be strengthened and constriction will be accelerated to ensure that the G327 Qufu-Changgou section and the east line of Huanhu Avenue can be completed and opened to traffic on time.

He added that the city will complete its annual investment plan and construction targets for the new airport expressway and the reconstruction and expansion of the Beijing-Taipei Expressway and other projects. Next year, the city plans to build nine general national and provincial highways.

Jining bolsters its transportation network over the past five years. [Photo by Li Hui]