Modern Transport System Bridges Shenyang Metropolitan Area

The economic zone in northeast China's Liaoning Province, also known as Shenyang Metropolitan Area is striving to enhance its urban integration. A network of roads, expressways and railways has been designed to bring the province into greater local development. Wu Jia reports.

The Metropolitan Area is made up of eight cities in the Liaoning Province, including Shenyang, Fushun, Fuxin, Tieling and four other peripheral cities.

As the core region of the traditional industrial base in Northeast China, it has equipment manufacturing, metallurgy, petrochemical and coal mining as its pillar industries.

Amid the eleventh five-year plan, the Shenyang Metropolitan Area has formed an influential industrial city group that takes up some 50 percent of the total area in the province and accounts for about 60 percent of its GDP.

In order to promote urban integration within the 8 cities, the province has taken a series of measures to strengthen its transportation network.

According to Zhao Xiaoman, director of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, since its establishment in 2003, the metropolitan area has made achievements in numerous ways, especially in transportation, which has brought broader space for the development of the local economy.

"We built roads, expressways, high-speed railways and inter-city railways which altogether make it possible to travel from one city in the area to another within one hour or half an hour. We are also building two circular expressways that will connect all highways in the province. The construction will be completed within the period of the 12th five-year plan."

Liaoning Province is not only building roads, it's also enhancing its public transport services.

"In the past, buses never went beyond the city, but now inter-city buses have been put into use. There are buses every 3 or 5 minutes going back-and-forth between cities."

With this, people who live in one city and work in another will have much more convenience and a faster commute. It helps not only to bring the eight cities in the area closer but also to reduce pressures on the environment.

For CRI, I'm Wu Jia.