A bird's-eye view of the overpass in Nantong. [Photo/WeChat account: ntjoy2012]

The Nantong municipal bureau of transportation in Jiangsu province recently highlighted the city's progress in developing a comprehensive transportation system during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) at a press conference.

Since 2021, Nantong has invested 120 billion yuan ($16.98 billion) in transportation infrastructure, marking a 50 percent increase over the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). This investment sets a historical record and places Nantong among the top cities in the province.

By the end of 2024, several key metrics, including the total mileage of highways, expressways, inland waterways, and the number of berths for ships of 10,000 metric tons or more, ranked among the highest in Jiangsu.

In 2024, Nantong Port achieved a cargo throughput of 340 million tons and a container throughput of nearly 2.72 million twenty-foot equivalent units, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 33.1 percent. That same year, the Lyusi port area commenced operations, adding 122 new berths with an annual throughput capacity of 120 million tons. Additionally, Nantong Port was officially designated as a national logistics hub and launched its first ocean-going route.

Nantong is carrying out a green transformation of its transportation network. The Lyusi port work zone has become the province's first fully automated container terminal, while the Jiangsu Digital Transportation Industrial Park has attracted 53 enterprises in the supply chain, with over 170 patents filed.

Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Nantong has upgraded 1,091 kilometers of rural roads, renovated 446 dangerous bridges, and added or optimized more than 60 bus routes. Since its inauguration in 2022, Nantong's rail transit system has transported nearly 100 million passengers.

Tang Congcong, head of the Nantong municipal bureaus of transportation and port, said: "Over the next five years, the city will complete cross-Yangtze River passages such as the Zhangjiagang-Jingjiang-Rugao Yangtze River Bridge and the Haimen-Taicang Yangtze River Tunnel, as well as the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hefei and Nantong-Suzhou-Jiaxing-Ningbo high-speed railways. By the end of 2030, Nantong Port's container throughput is expected to exceed 3.5 million TEUs."