Chongqing- "If we want to get rich, we must build roads first, then everyone can live a good life," said Ran Hui, deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), representing Tianshanbao Village of Youyang Autonomous County.
Ran's hometown, Tianshanbao Village, is located on the Youyang Taohuayuan Scenic Area mountain. After in-depth research, she found that many of the local rural areas were poor in transportation and industrial support, which makes their economic development lags behind.
Ran Hui, deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC). (Photo provided to iChongqing by Ran Hui)
Dual channels for Youyang to China's coastal cities
Ran called for speeding up the planning and construction of the Youyang Pengshui Expressway at China's "two sessions" in recent years.
At the end of 2019, the Youyang Pengshui Expressway Project was launched, bringing major development opportunities to Youyang Autonomous County and Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County.
"Youyang has accelerated its construction of major external channels, including the Youyang Pengshui Expressway in recent years," said the relevant person in charge of Youyang Transportation Bureau.
After the Youyang Pengshui Expressway is completed and opened to traffic, the traffic pressure of Baotou-Maoming Expressway (Youyang-Pengshui section) will be greatly relieved.
The Baotou–Maoming Expressway is an expressway that connects the cities of Baotou, Inner Mongolia, and Maoming, Guangdong.
The Youyang Pengshui Expressway and Youyan High-Speed will constitute the high-speed "dual channels" via the river in Guizhou to coastal cities in southern China.
Chongqing-Hunan High-speed Railway
Ran's "traffic dream" is more than that.
Since 2019, she has continued to suggest that the construction of the Chongqing-Hunan high-speed railway from Qianjiang to Jishou via Xiushan should begin as soon as possible.
"This will form a high-speed rail channel from Chongqing to Hunan, which will help enhance Chongqing's function as a link between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt," said Ran.
Ran believed that would also help the Wuling Mountainous areas get rid of poverty, and promote the collaborative economic development of old and the poor regions, areas inhabited by minority nationalities, and remote and border areas.
In December 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Multi-Level Rail Transit Planning of Chengdu Chongqing Economic Circle and the Chongqing-Hunan high-speed railway from Qianjiang to Jishou was included in the national plan.
The Chongqing-Hunan high-speed railway is 265 kilometers long, with eight stations and a design speed of 350 km/h. The project's total investment is 53.5 billion yuan, and it is expected to be completed and opened to traffic in October 2025.
Ran said that this year, she would continue to put forward relevant suggestions to promote the implementation of the project.
Vehicles passing through bridges of downtown Chongqing. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)
(Shi Jiaqi, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)