Nantong aims to become transportation hub

The Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Yangtze River Bridge stretches 11,072 meters with a single span of 1,092 meters and can accommodate both cars and trains. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province has invested 131.2 billion yuan ($18.44 billion) building transportation infrastructure over the past decade.

The city's fixed asset investment in transportation infrastructure increased from 6.33 billion yuan in 2012 to 23.24 billion yuan in 2021.

Nantong plans to construct a modern transportation system featuring road, rail, air, sea and river transport.

The total length of highways in the city has reached 488 kilometers, ranking third in Jiangsu.

It has increased the total length of its railways from 141 km in 2012 to 428 km in 2021. In 2020, the high-speed railway linking Yancheng to Nantong opened to traffic, making it the first such railway in Nantong and marking the completion of the coastal railway in the province.

Nantong is also home to 120 km of waterways at the third municipal level or above. It currently has 294 waterways with a total length of 3,521 km, ranking third in Jiangsu.

Nantong Port. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In addition, Nantong Port has become an important hub in the Yangtze River Region and a major transit port for sea-river transportation along the Yangtze River. Over the past 10 years, it has handled 2.51 billion tons of cargo.

Along the Yangtze River, a transfer base for bulk cargo such as ore, coal, grain, and oil has been established, and along the Huanghai Sea a national liquefied natural gas base has been built.

From 2021 to 2025, Nantong is expected to invest 150 billion yuan in transport facilities, 2.14 times the figure in the previous five years. This year, the city's investment in transportation infrastructure has exceeded 30 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 31.6 billion yuan.