The Zhanjiang city government has pledged to redouble its efforts to improve its transportation network, in line with decisions outlined in the city government's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), for it to become a major regional transportation hub.

According to Jiang Jianjun, mayor of Zhanjiang, the city government has rolled out an overall plan to develop the local transportation network, called the 56811 Project, which features the extensive development of railway lines, highways, flights and shipping routes in and out of the city.

The Jiangmen-Zhanjiang Railway, which connects Zhanjiang with other Pearl River Delta cities, was launched on Sunday. The line will reduce travel times between the cities from around 10 hours to just three-to-four hours.

The high-speed line is the first of five high-speed lines that will feed into Zhanjiang in the future, including direct routes with Guangzhou, Hepu, Haikou and Zhangjiajie. Some of the trains will be capable of running at speeds of 350 km/h.

"With the five high-speed railways to be in service in Zhanjiang, the city will realize its goal of becoming one of the major railway hubs in the country," Jiang said.

The mayor added that a new international airport has been approved by the State Council and will begin construction early next year to provide better links to members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Once the airport is completed it will function as one of the three main airports in Guangdong and help to support the province's harbors involved in the framework of China (Hainan) Free Trade Zone, as well as the key hubs involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The reason that the central government has chosen Zhanjiang is because of its central position in the surrounding area, Jiang said.

Once the traffic network in Zhanjiang has been fully upgraded, it will provide fast and efficient links to the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guizhou, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, the western regions of Hunan and Hubei, as well as Chongqing and Hainan, Jiang added.

liyou@chinadaily.com.cn