The Influence of Expressway on Social and Economic Development

摘要：隨著高速公路的快速發展，高速公路與社會經濟發展的關系日益密切。通過詳細的資料和數據闡述高速公路與社會經濟發展的關系，分析高速公路對社會經濟發展的影響。Abstract: With the rapid growth in length of expressway， there is a closer relation between expressway and social and economic development. Through detailed statistics and data， the paper explains the relationship of expressway and social and economic development， and analyzes the influence on social and economic development.關鍵詞：高速公路；社會經濟；發展；影響Keywords: expressway， social and economic development， influence As global economic integra- tion accelerates， and social and economic development in China maintains at high speed， the total length of expressways n China also grows quickly， and the road network improves continuously. Especially in recent decades， with a boom in expressway construction， the total length in China now reaches 25，000 km， ranking the second in the world. Length of expressway is an important indicator of and a significant driving factor for a country’s economic development， as they can provide crucial foundation and guarantee for resource， tourism， industry， urban and rural development along the expressway， and have a profound influence to regional economy.I Expressway promotes economic development of areasExpressway encourages industrial and tourism development along the line.In 1980s， the contribution of expressway to economic and social development was obvious， and attracted attentions of various governments， encouraging construction projects of ex- pressways. Till 1995， the traffic mileage came to 2141 kilometers. Before that， the built mileage each year was no more than 500 kilometers， averaging 270 km per year or so in the initial phase of expressway construction. Since 1998， the central government had implemented proactive fiscal policies， strengthened the investments in infrastructure and implementation of West Development Strategy， bringing expressway construction in China into a booming period， with built mileage per year to over 3，000 km. By the end of 2001， the total length of expressway in China reached 19，437 km， averaging near 2，900 km per year in six years from 1996 to 2001.To achieve modernization of the final target for national economic development， in 1998 the Ministry of Communication set up a three-step development plan for transportation modernization by mid 21st Century. By 2020， expressway traffic basically meets the needs for national economic development， and the eastern region completes phase two of modernization plan. In 2001， the ministry completed planning for national arterial expressway， which is targeting at 71，000 km of national key roads by 2020， which together with national trunk road to form a 100，000 km national road network skeleton， including 55，000 km of expressway that basically forms national expressway network. Skeleton road network will cover more than all these cities with a population of over 500，000， and 95 percent of cities with a population of 200，000 to 500，000， meaning total population coverage of 900 million or so.It is learned from the experiences from foreign countries that in 3 to 5 years’ operation of an expressway the cities on both sides will extend along it and a series of economic development zones will establish around the entrances and exits， and an “economic corridor” or a “channel economic zone” taking the expressway as axes will be formed.Scotland Electronic Industry Center in UK， California Silicon Valley High-tech Industry Zone and Boston 128km High-tech Industry Region in USA are all located near expressways. There is data reveals that 40% new factories in Japan were established no more than 10km away from expressway entrances and exits and more than 50% within 20km. After the completion of Nagoya to Kobe Expressway， just around the 14 overpasses on the expressway， there were more than 900 new industrial enterprises emerged in 10 years.In China， along Tianjin Expressway and around the links to cities there have been implemented several projects like Beijing Technology Development Zone， International Logistics Center， and Yongle Garden High-grade Residence， etc. After Badaling Expressway got through， XiSanQi High-tech Construction Material Market sees an increase of 100 million RMB in fixed assets each year， and New Technology Industrial Development District had an increase of 450 million RMB in fixed assets in the same year. As to Guangshen Expressway， it boosts the development of hi-tech industries. Taking Shenzhen for example， the production value of high-tech industries in 1993 increased by 10 times from 1988， and 64% higher in 1994 from a year ago， amounting to 18.8% of the whole industrial production value， taking a lead in the country.In 1990， the first standard highway in Mainland China — Shenyang —Dalian Highway completed and opened to traffic， which was 375 kilometers long and cost 2.2 billion RMB， with 4 lanes going through Liaodong peninsula. Shenyang - Dalian Highway was resulted from the needs of economic development in Northeast China and the geographical location of Liaoning. Liaoning Province is one of the heavy industry base in China， the doorway of Jilin， Heilongjiang and Eastern Inner Mongolia for goods and material supplies， and also a marine gateway in Northeast China to Eurasia and foreign trade. Shenyang-Dalian Highway connects Shenyang， Liaoning， Anshan， Yingkou and Dalian 5 industrial cities， links two city agglomerations in coastal areas around Dalian and in central Northeast China around Shenyang， and cuts the distance between the gateway and the production base. Along the highway gathers 90% large and medium-sized backbone enterprises in Liaoning province and 2/3 of urban population and fixed assets， which forms a prosperous economy corridor. Without modern highway transportation， this seems impossible.In 1980s， Langfang Province near an exit of Tianjin Expressway was still a backward prefecture level city in Hebei Province. With the completion of Tianjin Expressway， the distance from Beijing and Tianjin to Langfang was shortened， and logistics and passenger transportation industry in Langfang rapidly develops. In 1992， Langfang established an economic and technology development zone along Tianjin Expressway. Under the radiation and driving of Beijing and Tianjin， the economy and technology development zone attracted 411 projects including 24 over 100 million RMB projects， realizing 5.575 billion RMB of fully funded capital and accumulative financial revenue of 143 million RMB， up by 88.6% per year in average. Among them， foreign investment projects take 52.2%， and actual use of foreign capital totaled 220 million dollars. Now， Langfang is attractable to both domestic and foreign investors， and becomes a promising golden area in Beijing-Tianjin region for investment.In November 2000， Xinjiang Urumqi-Kuitun high-graded highway completed and opened to traffic， attracting a large number of mainland Chinese investors. In KuiTun economic and technology development zone， a businessman from Jiangsu Province invested 50 million RMB to build Western International Trade Center， which has 300 plus merchants. Because of Urumqi-Kuitun high-graded highway， Kuitun as a commercial center becomes more prominent， inducting Tongyi， Wahaha， Yili， Wangwang， Yanjing and other enterprises to Shihezi Development Zone， and driving economic development in neighboring areas.Expressway stimulates the development of high technologies. The distribution of industries along expressways in these years in China clearly demonstrates this， such as electronic information， electromechanical， new material， new energy， biological engineering technology and industries alike are most located near highway entrances and exits， forming industrial parks. MITI of Japan had a survey in 1974-1981 on site selecting of 978 enterprises in six high-tech and new industries of communication equipments， electronic application equipments， electrical measurement instruments， electronic instruments and parts， medical appliances and optical instruments， which showed that: 23% of enterprises of electrical measuring instruments preferred sites no more than 10 km away from entrances and exits of highways， and 40% to 60% of other five industries， while 49% of electrical measurement instruments chose sites within 20 km， and 70% of other five.II Expressway construction improves rural economic strengthWith the rapid development of expressway， regional economies are strengthening， cities gradually expend， and links between urban and rural areas get closer. With an increasing level of agricultural mechanization， a larger rural population turns to non-agricultural industries， filling the gap between urban and rural areas.Adjustments in national macro economic structure， regional planning， special zone development， and economic and administrative policies on private and public sectors all have a direct influence on formation and development of urban and rural fringe area. Along with the development of expressway， gap between urban and rural regions are narrowing， the economic relationship are strengthening， forming an industrial structure that rural agriculture boosts urban industrial development， rural industry and urban industry cooperate under the lead of cities. In rural area， industries like textiles， food processing， building materials， construction and so on can serve urban development， and thus speed up rural social and economic development， and the formation and development of regional economy in urban-rural fringe. Such close cooperation requires support from highways， while highway provides a powerful guarantee.Zhangjiakou was economic backward city in Hebei Province for long， but this city develops along with reform and opening-up policy and highway construction， with the economic situation getting better and economy keeps stable and improves. In 2000， Zhangjiakou had a GDP of 24，319.3 billion RMB， 5318% higher from 1995， the end of 8th Five-year plan， and 5，460 RMB of per capita GDP and 1，712.2 billion of financial revenue， up by 412% per year in average on comparable basis. In 1999， the investment in fixed assets in Zhangjiakou kept growing， and key construction projects moved on smoothly， while the city completed total fixed assets investments of 7，218.8 billion RMB， having a year-on-year ncrease of 1104%， including 5，918.7 billion RMB of local investments， up by 2613%. Among the total fixed assets nvestments， 5，412.7 billion RMB was from state-owned units， 1，111.9 billion RMB from collective units and 714.2 billion RMB from individual investors. Among the completed investments of state-owned units， basic construction took 3，811.6 billion RMB， up by 22103% from a year ago， real estate development took 312.7 billion RMB， up by 21156%.Expressway cuts the storage and transportation time for agricultural products， accelerates product circulation and exchange of agricultural information， and further boosts the scale operation and intensive production. For example， Tianjin Expressway is helpful to the exchange of agricultural and sideline products between Beijing and Tianjin， encouraging the planting and marketing of fresh vegetables and rare flowers.Beijing-Shijiazhuang Expressway boosts the agricultural development and regional advantage upgrade in Baoding region on one hand， making Dingzhou and Dingxing two counties famous vegetable logistics centers in North China for both Beijing and Tianjin. On the other， this expressway provides transportation support to township enterprises for the exchange of information， material and talents， bringing them into a period of fast development. For example， at the end of 1996， there were 509 township enterprises in Shiiazhuang with an operating income exceeding 10 million RMB， 20 ones with an income of 100 million RMB， and 24 ones listed among national large and medium-sized town enterprises. In 1996， agricultural income per capita n Shijiazhuang came to 2，502 RMB， 3.24 times of that in 1992 without the expressway. Among the top 100 towns n Hebei province， there were 38 in Shijiazhuang.The construction of an expressway is a process of balancing urban and rural development， regional development and overall economic and social development， and also a process of planning for expressway， trunk and rural road construction， which plays an important role in accelerating the development of transportation in rural and under-developed areas and promoting urbanization and industrialization. Expressway can correct urban development divide and promote urban and rural integration， by involving cities and countryside into the economic structure of “cities pulling counties and urban-rural integrating”， strengthening the communication between cities and countryside， increasing farmers’ incomes and finally realizing rapid development of urban and rural areas.III Expressway drives regional economic aggregationExpressway can promote regional economic development， while drive regional economic aggregation， and gradually transform labor-intensive industries into capital and technology intensive industries.Experiences from global economic development show that: industrial structure will always be in dynamic evolution during national or regional economic development. Although different countries and regions differ in industrial characteristics and industrial composition， the evolution of industrial structure follows a general rule， meaning with the development of economy and increase in national income per capita， labor will gradually move from the first industry to the second industry and then to the third industry. In terms of requirements or intensity of various industrial department of national economy on production factors， labor intensive industries would transform into capital and technology intensive industries. In course of road development history of various countries， they all experienced the process of conventional road to expressway and trunk road to high grade highway network， and the economic and industrial structure basically followed the rule. Accordingly， the construction of expressway network greatly stimulated the aggregation regional economy， and accelerated the development of regional economy along surrounding.On December 22nd 2007， south line of Jiqing Expressway was formally opened to traffic， marking a large-sized expressway economic development zone that will greatly influence the economy of Shandong peninsula， Jiqing Expressway Economic Zone belt--formed. North Line is just less than 100 km from south line in average， and through trunk road connections， the two lines form convenient and quick road transportation net. Jiqing Expressway brings the most active economic zone in Shandong Province， and together with Jiliao Expressway， Beijing-Shanghai Expressway， Tongsan Expressway， Huailai Expressway and other high-grade roads realizes interconnection and interaction of economic development in northern Shandong Province. Jiqing Expressway’s open to traffic would enhance the economic relation among surrounding regions， driving the economy in mid-western part of Shandong Province to develop.Township enterprises have already been an important force in the modernization construction in China， and also an indispensable driving force in the industrialization process， whose development is dependent on expressway transportation. In Yangtze River delta and Pearl River delta where township enterprises have a good development， various economic elements gather along the expressway， clearly demonstrating this view.The rapid development of expressway can ease traffic congestion， and also brings enormous economic and social benefits， contributing to the development of national economy in China. At present， expressway has covered 28 provinces and cities， and gradually evolves towards modernization， networking， informationization and intelligence. Meanwhile， the influence of expressway on economic and social development is getting more and more profound.Author: From Fukang Toll Station of Kaziwan Administrative Office， Xinjiang Traffic Construction Administration Bureau， Urumqi， Xinjiang 830021