Exploring the G60 Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, which is 2,340 kilometers in length and traverses six provinces in the east, central and west-high-speed access to industry and economic activity (in-depth observation)
People's Daily reporter Liu Zhiqiang
Once when people traveled on business trips, they often had to travel for several days with large and small bags. Nowadays, express online shopping is convenient and affordable, and you can travel around China in your favorite car.
In the past, most of the fruits and vegetables in the mountains could only be circulated in the county and township fairs. Nowadays, agricultural products are rushed to various places in the cold chain, and they are worth more and have a wider market.
Once, large shopping malls and chain supermarkets were exclusive to big cities; now, small county towns are also full of shops, and the atmosphere of modern life is becoming more and more intense.
The important role played by expressways is inseparable from the improvement of travel experience, the upgrading of goods circulation, and the ever-changing cities.
From the "zero breakthrough" of expressways in mainland China in 1988, to 161,000 kilometers by the end of 2020, the mileage has ranked first in the world. For more than 30 years, expressways have provided strong support for my country's socialist modernization.
A few days ago, reporters travelled to Zhejiang, Hunan, Guizhou and other places along the G60 Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, which is 2,340 kilometers in length and traverses six provinces in the east, central and west, to explore the close connection between the expressway and China's modernization process.
Speed up
Faster speed, better road conditions, stronger capacity, more cost-effective, highways greatly improve transportation efficiency
"Speaking of Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, I have a say!" The speaker was Peng Fei, a Guizhou truck driver with 35 years of driving experience.
"Before 2000, there were few goods going east, and the car mainly went back and forth between Yunnan and Guizhou. In 2000, I ran to Shanghai for the first time." The experience of that experience is still fresh in Lao Peng's memory. The roads are rugged. Fortunately, there are not many cars. The two of them drove in turns, and they stopped the car for two days and two nights."
He went to Shanghai more often, and he unknowingly became a "Knowledge of 320 National Road"-he even knew which town along the way to go to the market. Hours. I was stuck on the road in winter, and I didn’t eat or drink all night. It was really miserable..."
Every time there is a big traffic jam, drivers from all over the world will get together to chat. The most discussed is: "When will the highway pass?"
Thinking of high-speed, looking forward to high-speed, Shanghai-Kunming high-speed was connected in sections, and everyone’s dream was fulfilled: in 2003, the G60 Hangzhou-Quzhou section (Hangjin-Quzhou high-speed) was opened to traffic; in 2007, the G60 Hunan section was fully connected; in December 2011, the G60 finally The whole line opened to traffic, and the one-way journey from Guiyang to Shanghai was shortened to less than 30 hours.
In 2015, the 88 counties of Guizhou "county counties connected to the highway" made Peng Fei even more happy. "In the past, it took at least two days to travel from Guiyang to Tongren in northwestern Guizhou. Now, you can easily make a round trip in one day."
The expressway has improved working and living conditions for truck drivers, and has also promoted the development and upgrading of the road transportation industry.
"Xuefeng Mountain, which connects mountains with mountains, has three hundred and thirty-one bends." Xuefeng Mountain, which traverses the western part of Hunan, has been the only way for merchants to travel since ancient times.
"In the past, I used 320 National Road to turn over Xuefeng Mountain. It took 3 hours to go around the mountain. There were many dangerous bends and many accidents." Peng Fei explained the difficulties carefully: First, there are many sharp bends, and the car cannot turn a corner if the car is more than 9.6 meters long; The second reason is that the mountain is dangerous, and many drivers from other places are afraid to go up the mountain. The third reason is that the weather is changeable. In the event of rain, snow and fog, there will be long queues of vehicles.
Every mountain opens the road, meets the water to build a bridge!
In August 2006, thanks to the efforts of tens of thousands of builders, the 7,000-meter-long Xuefengshan Tunnel of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway was successfully completed.
From then on, the vehicle traversed the mountains as if walking on flat ground, and the whole journey took less than 10 minutes.
Different from ordinary highways, expressways have straight bends, smooth lines, smaller slopes, and wider road surfaces, which increase capacity and speed.
"From a national perspective, the average speed of trucks can exceed 60 km/h on high speeds, including the rest and pause time in between, which provides a solid guarantee for the speed and efficiency of logistics." said Lin Haibin, the relevant person in charge of JD Logistics.
At high speed, fast or fast, good or good, will the cost be higher?
For the cost, logistics companies are the most careful to plan.
At the Southwest Express Logistics Company, which is mainly engaged in the freight business between Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, the general manager Liu Zhipu settled the accounts for the reporter——
From Panzhou, Liupanshui, Guizhou, to Kunming, Yunnan, take the 320 National Highway with a mileage of 270 kilometers and a one-way of 12 hours. It takes one day to eat and rest.
If you go on a high-speed, the mileage is 230 kilometers, and it can be reached within 5 hours.
For the same transportation volume, the cars that need to be raised, the people sent, and the diesel consumption are at least halved.
In addition, if trucks travel on national highways for many years, they have to change their tires every three or four months, while traveling at high speeds, changing them once a year reduces maintenance costs by more than half.
"In general, although you need to pay some tolls to go to the highway, it is more efficient and cost-effective to calculate the big account and the general ledger." Many logistics companies say that nowadays, except for short-distance transportation within 150 kilometers, in most cases Will choose high speed.
upgrade
The expressway is less disturbed by external factors, has a higher degree of standardization, and the transportation is more efficient and stable, which greatly improves the level of logistics organization
Arriving at the Chuanhua Highway Port in Hangzhou, there are elevator accessories such as steel wire ropes, beams, and guide rails stacked on an open space. There is a sequence of licensed trucks in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan and other places.
More than 30 kinds of accessories, starting from their respective manufacturers, are assembled here to be needed for an elevator, and then distributed to various places.
"It is reasonable to say that so many kinds of accessories require a lot of turnover storage space, but the warehouse here is not large." Fu Jianfeng, general manager of Chuanhua Zhilian Zhejiang Region, revealed the answer: the accessories will arrive in the morning and be shipped in the afternoon. But half a day, "The premise is that more than 30 delivery vehicles arrive at the same time, and this is inseparable from the highway!"
As a transportation infrastructure that is less disturbed by external factors and has a higher degree of standardization, expressways make transportation more efficient and stable, and greatly improve the level of logistics organization.
2 kilometers away from the south ring exit of Guiyang Huancheng Expressway, there is Guizhou’s largest steel market in the Niulangguan Smart Logistics Park covering an area of 1,200 acres.
"Before 2000, we opened a steel trading market, and it shrank as soon as we did it. After the relocation in 2010, the business was booming." Feng Guiming, deputy general manager of Guizhou Materials Modern Logistics Group Co., said the reason: before The park is far away from the city, and its competitiveness is difficult to compare to other markets in the city. Later, as the city expands, the market gradually relocates to the suburbs.
Interviews along the way found that many companies and cities tend to choose locations around highway entrances and exits when deploying logistics hubs and industrial parks.
For example, JD.com has 32 "Asia One" large-scale intelligent logistics centers deployed across the country, all located at highway intersections.
"The most important thing in logistics is timeliness. Expressway transportation gets rid of the uncertain factors of urban traffic and can basically be on time and on time." Lin Haibin said.
For the real economy, the efficiency and stability of transportation will bring many far-reaching benefits.
——Reduce warehousing links and accelerate capital turnover.
There are more than 10 vehicles waiting for delivery beside the Xinshunmei Wharf of Hangzhou Wuchan Zhongda.
In recent years, after the steel produced in the north has been transported to Hangzhou via the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, it can reach surrounding cities such as Jinhua and Shaoxing in Zhejiang via the expressway.
"The expressway has benefited the hardware products enterprises in Jinhua a lot." Zheng Yanmin, general manager of Zhejiang Materials and Industry Zhongda Group, analyzed: In the past, the transportation time was uncontrollable on national and provincial roads. If hardware companies want to purchase raw materials at stable prices, they must stock up early. Storage, deposit more funds; after the high-speed network, the transportation time is more controllable, and enterprises can produce, place orders, and deliver goods at the same time, which saves storage links and greatly reduces the financial pressure.
——Reduce risks in transit and reduce corporate losses.
Yiwu Qiuker Supply Chain Company has been acting as an agent for cargo exporters in Anhui, Jiangxi and other places for many years. Chen Liangjun, general manager of the company, told reporters that in the past, there were often empty warehouses in international shipping because vehicles were often stuck in traffic and could not arrive at the port in time. The freight will be paid, and the loss will be borne by us and the cargo owner." In the past, the compensation paid by the company every year accounted for 1/3 of the operating cost. "After 2012, highways have become more developed and empty warehouses have decreased significantly."
The transportation is more stable, which is also conducive to reducing cargo damage.
In Guiyang Laoganma Company, 3 million bottles of chili products are shipped to various places by road every day.
Lei Dong, the director of the company’s office, said that when walking on ordinary roads, there are many bends and slopes, and bottles and cans will inevitably bump into each other. A bottle of grease may flow out of grease, which may affect the entire box. Bottle, the loss is greatly reduced."
——Forming economies of scale and reducing logistics costs.
Business is prosperous because of logistics, and logistics is prosperous with commerce.
Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province is not only an important business town, but also a logistics hub.
"Our LTL transportation average price is lower than the national average, and goods from surrounding areas and even Fujian and Guangdong come to transit." said Li Huijuan, general manager of Yiwu Lugang Group Highway Port.
The price advantage comes from scale.
Yiwu has developed commerce and trade, with large transportation demand, multiple shifts, fast turnover, higher vehicle full load rate and shorter waiting time, which brings lower costs.
For example, if it is shipped from Nanping, Fujian to Xi’an, Shaanxi, if it is delivered directly, the freight is about 780 yuan/ton, and it takes 4 days to arrive; if it is transferred via Yiwu, the freight is only 610 yuan/ton, and it takes 2 days to arrive. .
"Why is high-speed rail so popular? One is fast, and the other is punctuality. The same is true for expressways, which not only improves the speed, but also greatly improves the reliability and stability of transportation, providing a strong guarantee for modern transportation." Said Liu Xiaodong, general manager of the Highway Planning and Design Institute.
support
Expressways provide strong support for improving people’s lives and industrial transformation and upgrading
Abalone, Turbot, Jiwei Shrimp... In the Panzhou Heli supermarket chain, fresh aquatic products from afar attract customers to buy.
"Eat aquatic products, pay attention to the word'fresh'. In 2019, everyone will finally be able to buy fresh Jiwei shrimp at your door!" said Heli Supermarket Manager Xia Fengshu. The product takes a cold-chain car from Zhanjiang, Guangdong all the way to Guiyang, and then distributes it to various cities in Guizhou. The whole journey takes less than 24 hours.
Expressways can improve people’s lives and provide support for industrial transformation and upgrading.
The car traveled along the Changsha Ring Expressway, exited from the Lijiatang toll station, and entered Changsha BYD Automobile Co., Ltd. within 1 km.
"Automobile manufacturing attaches great importance to the delivery cycle, late delivery of the vehicle, the customer experience is not good. To deliver the order as soon as possible, the company must strive for the'geographical advantage'." The company's general manager Zhu Bin is very satisfied with the company's location-Beijing, Hong Kong and Macao The expressway passes between the first and second phases of the company, and the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway is not far away.
"Before, BYD had always wanted to deploy production bases in the central region to shorten transportation distances and reduce costs. Changsha, with its developed roads, just met the demand." The transportation cost of a vehicle is 1480 yuan, while the transportation from the couch is only 1065 yuan. "At present, 80% of the company's vehicles are transported to other places by high-speed."
"Zero time difference" in transportation will optimize the industrial layout and make the market respond more timely.
"Fast-selling products, victory depends on fast." Zhu Jianhai, general manager of Wahaha Group Transportation Company, analyzed. In the past, after Wahaha released new products, consumers in many regions could not buy them more than 20 days later. "Relying on high-speed, we woven a cover With a sales network of nearly 10,000 dealers and millions of terminals, new products can reach the terminal market faster, and the goods can be'shopped' across the country within a week, and the marketing effect has been greatly improved."
The development of tourism also benefits from expressways.
Langshan Mountain is located in Xinning County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, with beautiful scenery.
Local tour guide Qian Jin said that although Langshan had a reputation in the past, it was difficult to attract more tourists due to poor roads.
Good news came one after another: In 2013, the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway branch line-Dongkou to Xinning Expressway was connected, and the travel time from the local area to Changsha and Guilin was shortened from 10 hours and 4 hours to 4 hours and 2 hours, respectively. After the “hard leverage” of the judgement of "traffic accessibility", Langshan was successfully rated as a 5A-level scenic spot; in December 2017, Guangxi Zixing Expressway was completed, opening up the tourist channel from Zhangjiajie, Hunan to Guilin, Guangxi, allowing a "Guangxi "Guilin-Xinning Lang Mountain-Wugang Yunshan-Xiangxi Phoenix" 4-hour boutique tour route surfaced.
Qian Jin was delighted to see that many Chinese and foreign tourists to Guilin would choose to take a two-hour bus to Langshan to play, "Every summer, Langshan travel is very popular!"
Unblocked
The expressway connects different regions, accelerates the economic and trade exchanges and factor turnover between different regions, and helps smooth the circulation of the national economy.
Plush toys, jewellery, daily necessities... There are 75,000 shops in Yiwu International Trade City that are dizzying.
In a shop called "Sunshine 8 o'clock", a variety of student schoolbags are placed.
According to reports, in the five years of cooperating with the manufacturer, this brand of schoolbags has been selling well, with 40 to 50 boxes of goods being collected a day.
The manufacturer of "Sunshine 8 o'clock" is located in Shaodong City, Hunan Province, which is also along the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway.
The car left from the Shaodong toll gate and turned left at the first traffic light. After a while, it arrived at the manufacturer Sunshine Bags Co., Ltd.
"Buy accessories, place an order during the day, and depart from Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places in the evening, and arrive early the next morning. The goods are shipped all the way to Yiwu, Guangzhou and other distribution centers at high speed, and then distributed to the country and even for export." The director Liu Liu said with emotion. The highway greatly facilitates the entry and exit of raw materials and goods.
The road is smooth, and the market is wide.
"Before 2000, Shaodong's leather industry was still a little trouble. After the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway was put through, it would be the same every year." Liu Liu said.
At present, Shaodong has more than 900 leather goods manufacturers, the output of school bags accounts for 60% of the country, and the annual output value exceeds 11 billion yuan.
There is communication, and the circulation is smooth.
Along the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, Hunan products have been sold to Zhejiang, and Zhejiang products have also entered Hunan.
Passing through the Yiwu Highway Port, shop signs of "national delivery", "northwest" and "northeast" lined up on both sides.
At Rundong Logistics Company, which focuses on "Hunan Whole Territory", the manager He Chunhong knows the flow of each batch of goods: "This batch of packaging electrolytic paper produced in Yiwu is sent to Hunan enterprises for packaging tea; this batch of labels With the glass photo frame of'Changsha Zhuan Guzhang', 80% of them are needed by local tourist attractions..."
Roads are open and industries are booming. With expressways, many underdeveloped areas have accelerated their development.
"It is said that'Shao merchants' are all over the world, and it is not enough to rely on the friendship of fellow villagers to attract back investment." Since the reform and opening up, more than 1 million people in Shaoyang have gone out for business, and they have been regarded as key investment targets by the local area.
Helplessly, many "Shao merchants" gave up their hometown investment due to imperfect local transportation and other supporting facilities.
Around 2010, a turning point came.
With the opening of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway and Erguang Expressway to traffic, the expressway network crisscrossed Shaoyang, igniting the enthusiasm of "Shao merchants" to return to their hometowns.
From 2015 to 2020, the scale of actual utilization of foreign capital in Shaoyang increased by 18% annually, ranking among the forefront of Hunan.
Shaoyang took the opportunity to build the "Shanghai-Kunming Expressway Baili Industrial Corridor" to develop equipment manufacturing, display materials and other industries.
Last year, this "corridor" accounted for nearly 90% of Shaoyang's total industrial output value and employment.
In recent years, while the "aorta" of the expressway has become more robust, the "four good rural roads" have been actively built in various places.
A modern highway system with distinct levels and complete functions is accelerating its arrival.
Climbing on a verdant hillside in Jiaxi Village, Panzhou, the prickly pear trees can not be seen at a glance.
Prickly pear was mostly used for medicinal purposes in the past, and few people care about it. In recent years, it has been widely favored because of its rich nutrition.
Around 2016, Panzhou began to vigorously develop the prickly pear industry, driving farmers to increase their incomes and become rich.
"Prickly pear is too delicate and expensive!" said Zou Lei, deputy general manager of Panzhou Prickly Pear Production and Research Center of Guizhou Hongcai Group. Prickly pear is rich in vitamin C, but within 3 days after picking the fresh fruit, it must be processed into a stock solution that is easy to preserve, otherwise it will be nutritious. Very quickly, "Rural roads lead to villages and villages. In the 20-day fruit ripening season, 150 vehicles go back and forth between the planting area and the production base every day." Zou Lei sighed, relying on rural roads, tens of thousands of tons in Panzhou Prickly pear can be processed into beverages, lozenges, prickly pear paste and other products in time, and then sold at home and abroad at high speed.
Connecting the east and the west, holding hands between urban and rural areas, the developed road network breaks geographical barriers, shortens the distance between time and space, and makes the circulation of the national economy smoother.
"Look, some netizens just asked, when will the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway be rebuilt and expanded?" During the interview, Luo Wenming, a staff member of Hunan Expressway, took out his mobile phone and said with emotion, "Many people are very concerned about expressways."
This is indeed the case.
The economy is moving forward steadily, the demand for logistics is heating up, and the demand and expectation of expressways in various places are also getting higher and higher.
Wu Chungeng, director of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, stated that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, we should focus on opening up inter-provincial links, and accelerate the construction of pending passages of the national expressway network and the expansion and reconstruction of busy sections. The expressway will reach the urban population of 100,000. In the above cities and counties, the main line of the national expressway has been connected.
Nowadays, China's expressway, which is the largest in the world, will continue to extend, expand, and improve quality, injecting strong impetus into the new journey of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way!
Speed up the construction of a comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network (Reporter's Notes)
When interviewing along the highway, I can best appreciate the size of China.
From the beautiful Jiangnan water town, to the hilly and undulating land of Sanxiang, to the mountainous area of Guizhou, along the G60 for more than 10 days, the rich topography and landforms, colorful customs, and people strongly feel the territory of the motherland The vastness, the magnificent mountains and rivers.
There are big benefits.
A large country with abundant products, a large population, a complete industrial system, a vast market space, and great development potential.
All regions have advantageous resources and characteristic industries. By exchanging what is needed and cooperating efficiently, we can achieve common beauty and progress hand in hand.
There are also big difficulties.
The vast sea and sky, high mountains and long waters cause distance problems for factor turnover and bring certain costs to economic circulation.
How to use strengths and avoid weaknesses to activate development momentum?
Improve traffic, break bottlenecks, and dredge the meridians.
Among them, expressways that can cross mountains and rivers, increase transportation speed, and guarantee timeliness are even more important.
High-speed communication, prosperity of the industry and economic activity.
The expressways are criss-crossed, magnifying the big benefits-transportation is more convenient, circulation is more developed, personnel exchanges, economic and trade connections are closer, the national market has played a "game of chess", and the comparative advantages of various regions can be effectively brought into play; Weaknesses-Whether in mountainous counties or frontier towns, they can get rid of their location disadvantages through access to the road network, better integrate into the overall development, and share development results.
In a word, in the past few decades, behind the full release of my country's development potential, the rapid development of the national economy, and the continuous improvement of people's lives, expressways are a strong support.
Construction of highways, high-speed railways, construction of airports, development of ports, and smooth waterways... Today, the developed comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network is still being extended and expanded, helping to create a magnificent vision of China's modernization.
Layout design: Shen Yiling and Wang Zheping