A bullet train passes by Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province invested a total of 10.7 billion ($1.65 billion) in transportation in the first half of this year, accounting for 51.4 percent of the target set by the city for this year.

The amount also represented a year-on-year increase of 4.9 percent, the second highest in Zhejiang.

The local government plans to invest 150 billion yuan in transportation during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, with the aim of comprehensively improving its connectivity with surrounding cities.

By 2025, the travel time from Huzhou to Shanghai will be reduced to 30 minutes, while the travel time to major cities like Nanjing and Hangzhou in the Yangtze River Delta region will stand at 60 minutes.

It will also shorten the travel time from the city to all prefecture-level cities in the delta region to 90 minutes.

In addition, all administrative areas administered by Huzhou will be integrated in the high-speed train network, while all its towns will be connected by expressways.

Construction for a number of major transportation projects in the city, such as the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou High-speed Railway, the Huzhou-Hangzhou High-speed Railway, and the Huzhou-Hangzhou Highway, are in full swing.

The Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou High-speed Railway will span 163.8 kilometers, with a designed speed of up to 350 km/h.

The railway is expected to reduce travel time between Huzhou and Shanghai to just half an hour, turning Huzhou into a regional transport hub, as the city will be the only one within a one-hour distance of Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, as well as Hefei by high-speed rail.