The National Expressway Network Plan (NENP)

The background

To meet the requirements of building a well-off society in an all-round way and a modern society in the near future, a national-level expressway network, as part of the nation's macro development strategy and an endeavor to keep the nation's expressway on a fast, sustainable, and healthy track, needs to be planned. In the light of the nation's strategy, the planning and building of a national expressway network will facilitate the establishment of a big and integrated national market and the smooth nationwide mobility of goods and other resources, thus playing a vital role in narrowing down the regional development gap, creating job opportunities, and facilitating the development of other industries.

In the light of the new development requirements of the society, planning and building such an expressway network is prerequisite to the nation's overall development. The escalating human and material mobility demands in the early 20 years of the new century, given that a doubled total economic volume is scheduled, and the ever increasing transport efficiency and quality requirements imposed by the emerging industries, especially the fast growth of cars, new cities, and logistics all combine to make the planning work emergent.

Compared with the nation's vast land size, dense population, and fast growing transport demands, the total expressway mileage in China, given the existing 30,000km expressway, is insufficient. In addition, failing to formulate an integrated national expressway network plan to guide and coordinate the local expressway construction will result in irrational utilization of transport corridor resources and irrational cross-region transport corridor layout. And the road signs and names utilized are not standardized, which is also inconvenient to the road users.

In general, with the fast economic growth in the new period and the change of people's life style and the improvements of life quality, it is necessary to build an integrated national expressway network. After conducting extensive researches and discussions, the old plan was renovated. On Oct. 17, 2004, the National Expressway Network Plan (NENP) was passed by the State Council, marking the beginning of a new era for Chin.....

• The Eleventh Five-Year China Motorway Plan
• 2006 China Motorway Plan
• The Tenth Five-Year China Motorway Review
• 2005 China Motorway Review
• China National Expressway Network Framework will complete before 2010
• A well-kept secret: China's quality highways
• How it happens: a brief history
• 2005 China Road Construction Plan
• Department of Communication of Anhui Province
• The National Expressway Network Plan (NENP)
• Department of Communications of Shanxi Province