China's infrastructure network races ahead in last 10 years

The high-speed railway line linking Huzhou and Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province went into full operation on Sept 22, 2022. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China's infrastructure network has continued to improve during the past decade, with more balanced distribution and better quality and services, according to a press conference of the National Development and Reform Commission on Monday, CCTV News app reported.

China's comprehensive transportation network exceeded 6 million kilometers by the end of 2021, 1.3 times of a decade ago. The country operated 794,000 kilometers of power transmission lines of 220 kV and above and 54.81 million kilometers of optical cable lines by the end of last year, which were 1.7 times and 3.7 times, respectively, of that of 10 years ago, the commission said.

The passenger and freight transportation volume of China's railway, highway, as well as port throughput and power generation has also topped the world for years.

According to the NDRC, China's high-speed railways have covered 95 percent of the country's cities with a population of more than one million; expressways covered 98 percent of cities with a population of more than 200,000, and civil aviation airports covered about 92 percent of prefecture-level cities.

By the end of 2021, the number of mobile subscribers and internet users reached 1.82 billion and 1.03 billion, respectively, in China, 1.8 times and twice that of 10 years ago.

The penetration rate of 4G and 5G users in China reached about 87 percent by the end of 2021, with the scale of 4G network topping the world for a long time, according to the NDRC.