Direct Rail to Link Jiangsu's Kunshan, Shanghai as Yangtze Delta Integration Speeds
Ren Xiaozhang
DATE:  Aug 15 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Direct Rail to Link Jiangsu's Kunshan, Shanghai as Yangtze Delta Integration Speeds Direct Rail to Link Jiangsu's Kunshan, Shanghai as Yangtze Delta Integration Speeds

(Yicai Global) Aug. 15 -- Regional integration is gathering pace in the Yangtze River Delta, one of China's most economically advanced regions. Suzhou, capital of Jiangsu province, and Jiaxing in neighboring Zhejiang province -- both in close proximity to Shanghai -- have been mulling building rail lines connecting them with the regional center in recent years to further regional economic integration.

China's State-Owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission gave the nod yesterday to Suzhou's five-year urban rail transit construction plan, which proposes four rail transport projects of CNY95 billion (USD13.75 billion) between this year and 2023. Construction of Line S1 which directly links Kunshan, a county-level city in Suzhou, with Line 11 of the Shanghai Metro will begin by year's end.

The relationship between Kunshan and Shanghai's Jiading, Qingpu and Songjiang districts is both competitive and cooperative, Wang Zhen, vice president of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and head of the Shanghai Institute of Information Research, told Yicai Global. Local authorities will curb administrative intervention and build better transport facilities and  an environment to boost regional macro-level industry transformation and upgrade.

Jiaxing formed a municipal rail transit investment and development company on Aug. 10, and has likewise proposed several rail lines to Shanghai. The company is working on the Jiaxing-Songjiang line, for which initial preparations for construction will complete by 2020, as its top priority for current operations. 

Editor: Ben Armour

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Keywords:   Rail Transit,Project Approved,Investment,Regional Economy Integration,Yangtze Delta Area,Kunshan,Shanghai