Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has made rapid progress in improving its transportation services after 70 years of economic and social development since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The highway mileage in Hechi was only 594 kilometers in 1949 and less than 200 km of them were put into operation. In 1978, the highway mileage in the area climbed to 3,660.4 km, yet almost all the roads were low level gravel roads.

In 2002, Hechi possessed a total of 6,198.9 km in highways, of which 415.5 km of them were high-grade highways above the grade 2 level, accounting for 6.71 percent of the total number.

Starting from 2002, Hechi has launched the construction of 11 highways, with their total mileage reaching 930 km. The city has also participated in the construction of a batch of key highway projects at the national or provincial level, such as the Luocheng-Rongshui and the Tian'e-Leye highways.

The construction site of the Guiyang-Nanning high-speed railway in Du'an Yao autonomous county, Hechi. [Photo by Wei Jieying/hcwang.cn]

Hechi has carried out a project lasting for about three years on transportation infrastructure construction in July 2016, with the investment of the project expected to reach around 84 billion yuan ($11.83 billion).

By the end of 2018, the overall highway mileage in Hechi reached 13,574.1 km, being 22.85 times of that during the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The 416-km Hechi section of Hongshui River, which was included in the plan for the construction of the Xijiang River’s Golden Waterway in 2009 by Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has been upgraded to a national level 4 high-grade waterway after its construction finished in 2011.

The construction of ports alongside Hongshui River was accelerated, establishing a batch of port operation areas including the Hongdu operation area at Du’an Port. Regular ship routes for containers heading for destinations such as Guangzhou and Guizhou have also been launched.

The construction site of the Rongshui-Hechi highway. [Photo/hcwang.cn]

The Guiyang-Nanning high-speed railway, which passes through Hechi, started its construction at the end of 2016. It is expected to include Hechi into the one-hour economic circle around Nanning, capital city of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Hechi Jinchengjiang Airport, which was put into operation in August 2014, has filled a gap in the city, which previously had no history of having an airport.

The aerial view of Hechi Jinchengjiang Airport, being put into operation in August 2014. [Photo/hcwang.cn]

Currently, Hechi has gradually established a comprehensive transportation pattern of multimodal transportation, integrating various transportation measures spanning highways, air, railways, and shipping.

Due to the convenient transportation services, various industries in Hechi have seen rapid development, such as tourism, logistics, finance, and trade.

In 2018, Hechi has launched various activities, such as exhibitions and e-commerce promotions, greatly driving consumption levels by 1 billion yuan. The export and import trade of the city in 2018 topped 2.9 billion yuan, its highest level in the past decade.