Chongqing- The Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway was put into service on June 20. Four districts and counties along the line have officially entered the era of high-speed rail, including Wanzhou District, Yunyang County, Fengjie County, and Wushan County in northeastern Chongqing, Southwestern China. Each district and county seizes opportunities of high-speed rail opening to develop different industries as its own advantages in the future.
Northeast Chongqing seizes opportunities of the high-speed railway. (iChongqing/ Chen Zhan)
Wanzhou District: integrating into the national traffic pattern
Wanzhou has always been considered the gateway of Sichuan and Chongqing, access to commerce and trade. After the opening of the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway, Wanzhou, an important hub and node city along the line, will be more connected with the developed eastern regions and urban agglomerations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, integrating into the national traffic pattern.
Great traffic drives great logistics. Wu Bin, deputy director of the Wanzhou District Logistics Office, believes that most of the passengers from Wanzhou and its surrounding areas to the central region and north China will choose to take the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway after its opening. The annual transport capacity of Wanzhou Railway Station is estimated to increase by 1.6 million tons. It will be more conducive to the development of Wanzhou rail and water transportation. The railway freight volume of the whole region is expected to increase to 14 million tons in the next two or three years.
Yunyang County: optimizing the urban environment
"After the Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway is completed and opened, Yunyang will end the history of no railways, which will bring new opportunities for Yunyang's development," said Deng Xulin, deputy director of the Yunyang County Urban Management Bureau. In his view, the high-speed rail line is one of the important windows for displaying the city's image. It can connect the culture, tourism, industry, and other resources along the line, promote the city's organic renewal and improve the citizens' lives.
Zhengzhou-Chongqing High-speed Railway. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
In recent years, Yunyang County has promoted urban functions and quality. "After the completion of the high-speed railway, we will comprehensively improve the new image of Yunyang County as a park city suitable for living, working, and traveling, and attract more talents, funds, information, and technology to settle in Yunyang with a good park city environment," Deng said.
Fengjie County: promoting industrial transformation
"After the opening of the high-speed railway, Fengjie has strengthened exchanges with Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, central China, and the Central Plains. The economic and cultural exchanges between cities and regions along the route will be more frequent, laying the foundation for Fengjie to build a comprehensive transportation hub in the heart of the Three Gorges. It will also promote the transformation and upgrading of Fengjie's industrial structure," said Liu Muping, deputy head of the Fengjie County People's Government.
Currently, Fengjie County has stepped up its efforts to attract investment and actively undertake industrial transfer in first-tier cities. A large number of key projects are being constructed in an orderly manner. Engaged in the data business, the Baidu AI Cloud Artificial Intelligence Basic Data Industry Base project, which settled in Fengjie, is one example.
The newly built Wushan High-speed railway station. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
Wushan County: upgrading the cultural tourism industry
"Wushan is the gateway to east Chongqing. After the opening of the high-speed railway, Wushan will be integrated into the national 'eight vertical and eight horizontal' high-speed railway network, which will further stimulate the potential of Wushan's tourism and inject vitality into the development of cultural tourism and health care industries," said Shui Weiliang, deputy head of Wushan County.
In recent years, Wushan has made great efforts to build a comprehensive transportation hub for the gateway of east Chongqing. After the opening of the high-speed railway, Wushan will formally form a multimodal transportation network consisting of the airport, the high-speed railway, the Yangtze River Golden Waterway, four expressways, and eight tourism transportation links.
To seize the new opportunities of high-speed rail, Wushan will continue to make efforts from the ecology and humanity, striving to promote the comprehensive transformation and upgrading of the cultural tourism industry in three years.
(Wang Lu, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)