According to The Development Plan of Overall Transport Network of Hubei Province During the Thirteenth-Year-Plan Period issued on September 13th, in the following five years, the Hubei Provincial Government is to invest ?700 billion Yuan in fixed assets of the provincial transport network, including 190 billion for railway transport, 450 billion for highway and waterway, 30 billion for civil aviation, 20 billion for tubes, and 10 billion for postal services. This illustrates Hubei’s determination to build itself into “an overpass of the country”. Yichang, as an important hub connecting the central and western China, occupies a conspicuous position in the blueprint of Hubei.

In the Development Plan, Yichang’s role as a transport hub is to be further reinforced. To be specific, the following projects will be built in Yichang, namely, the Overall Three Gorges Transport System, the Three Gorges Water Transport Transfer Center, Road-Railway-Water Integrated Transport Center, the Three Gorges Logistics Center, etc.

What is especially worth mentioning is that Yichang will be incorporated into the construction of two of key transportation projects: The Yangtze River waterway from Wuhan to Yichang Section is to be regulated in order to meet the 4.5-meter-deep standard; the Qingjiang River waterway standardization is under way. In terms of high-speed railway construction, two high-speed railways, namely, Yichang to Zhengwan, and Yichang to Xiangyang, are to be built. In addition, several expressways will be built too, which include: the section from Wufeng (Yuyangguan) to the Hubei-Hunan border, Taipingxi-Zhangjiakou, the Yichang section of Yilai expressway, the eastern section of Hefeng expressway, and Xingshan-Changyang expressway. The Baiyang Cross-Yangtze River Bridge will be built. The cross-Yangtze River bridge over Bailizhou will be designed. The Three Gorges Airport will be rejuvenated and enlarged.

According to the Development Plan, the Three Gorges Ecological Economy Cooperative Zone, with the Yangtze River-Three Gorges as its axis, will cover Hubei Province, Chongqing City, and Hunan Province. Lying between the Yangtze River City Cluster and Chengdu-Chongqing City Cluster, it will play the pivotal role in linking the east and the west of China, and give impetus to the development of the neighboring areas. (Reporter: Zhang Liang)