Business
Key projects boost prosperity over past five years
  ·  2020-11-10  ·   Source: NO.46 NOVEMBER 12, 2020

The last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System takes off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province, southwest China, on June 23

As policymakers outlined the development roadmap for the next five years, a look at China's key projects over the past half decade may offer a hint at why the country has made tremendous advancement in economic and social development.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, China implemented 165 major projects, highlighting progress in technological advancement, infrastructure development as well as social and cultural improvement. These initiatives helped drive economic growth and brought tangible benefits to the people.

The last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System was launched in June, marking the completion of the deployment of China's own global navigation satellite system.

As one of the four global navigation satellite systems in the world, BeiDou provides users with a range of services, including global short-message communication, basic navigation and international search-and-rescue assistance.

"BeiDou serves not only China but also the world," Wang Wenbin, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said.

The project is one example of scientific endeavors China has made in the past years to meet its development needs as well as to contribute to the benefit of humanity.

Other major achievements include the Tiangong-2 space lab, Jiaolong deep-sea manned submersible and 500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), and the launch of dark matter probe satellite Wukong and the quantum science satellite Micius.

In October 2018, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the world's longest cross-sea bridge, opened. The 55-km-long bridge connects China's southern province of Guangdong with its two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

In addition, China has completed several infrastructure projects that connect people and facilitate opening up.

The Beijing Daxing International Airport, for instance, was built in less than five years and officially opened on September 25, 2019. Hailed as the new gateway to China, the new airport has seen the total passenger throughput exceed 10 million a year after it began functioning.

By the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the country's rail lines in operation will have reached 146,000 km, with high-speed rail lines totaling 38,000 km, topping the world.

At a recent State Council meeting on the formulation of the new five-year plan, Premier Li Keqiang called for efforts to start a new batch of projects for development, innovation and people's wellbeing, particularly in the fields of education, public health, as well as elderly and child care.

Over the past five years, China has also implemented a number of projects to help those most in need, involving initiatives in poverty alleviation and vitalization of rural areas.

In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest, 22.6 billion yuan ($3.38 billion) has been invested to improve rural power facilities.

By the end of September, newly constructed or rebuilt rural roads had totaled 1.39 million km as part of efforts to vitalize the countryside. The number is expected to exceed 1.4 million km by the year-end.

This is an edited version of an article published by Xinhua News Agency

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