By 2010 the Total Highway Mileage in China Will be 2.1-2.3 Million Km and 5 Vertical and 7 Horizontal National Trunk Highways Will Be Completed, says the Ministry of Communications

Business Wire, April 16, 2007

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c54013) has announced the addition of "China Highway Traffic and Transport Industry Report, 2006" to their offering.

By the end of 2005, the total expressway mileage amounted to 41,000 km in China, ranking the country second in the world. The accumulated mileage of highway at county-level and town-level reached 1.4757 million km, sharing 85.4% of China's newly-added highway mileage. National average highway density is 20.1 km per hundred square kilometers; 99.81% towns and 94.3% villages have built up highways. From January to October of 2006, China's highway freight traffic volume amounted to 11.68 billion tons, passenger carrying capacity via highway totalled 15.24 billion person times, and highway construction investment reached RMB 486.99 billion.

According to the plan of Ministry of Communications of China, the total highway mileage by 2010 will be between 2.1-2.3 million km, and 5 vertical and 7 horizontal national trunk highways will be completed. In addition, the expressway access rate among cities with population over 200,000 will reach 90%, and the total expressway mileage is expected to amount to 50,000 km.

As an infrastructure industry, the highway construction industry not only plays an important role in the development of national economy, but also promotes the development of many other industries. Due to its particularity from project approval to plan and then to capital, the highway construction industry is largely influenced by the governmental policies. However, the investment body has become more diversified instead of previous single state investment since the introduction of non-public capitals. Although this change still maintains the highways under the control of Chinese government, yet it forces the management model of highway administrations to change from direct control to indirect control.

As highway construction policies gradually turned open, the highway construction has experienced a peak in 2006. However, it is also confronted with grim challenges, and still lags behind the developed countries.

In terms of the industrial lifecycle, the highway construction industry currently is in a growth period; from the angle of expansion coefficient, the industry has now met the best period for expansion since the year of 2000, moreover, the investment risk is relatively small; in view of fluctuation coefficient, the industrial development sees a small fluctuation, which indicates that the investment risk grade is in medium level.

High-grade highways develop rapidly in China in recent years, but the highway maintenance industry could not catch up with its pace, which results in some gaps, so investors also suggested to keep an eye on the highway maintenance industry apart from high-grade highway construction.

This report first explains the definition of highway and related summary, and then gives an analysis on the overview of Chinese highway transport as well as highway construction. Following is the in-depth analysis on expressway, national expressway network plan, rural highway and west regional highway. Meanwhile, it probes into the highway operation and management, highway maintenance, key enterprises, BOT and highway construction. Finally, it foresees the development prospects of investment and construction of highway in a scientific way. This report is of great reference value for investors and potential entrants who are interested in China's highway traffic and transport industry.

Key Topics Include:

1. Overview of China highway traffic and transport industry

2. Operation analysis of China highway traffic and transport industry

3. Development trend forecast of China highway transport industry

4. Investment and financing of China highway transport industry

5. Competitive pattern analysis of China highway transport industry

Selected Charts

Mileage of various highways, 2005

China highway mileage by region, 2005

Problems in China highway traffic and transport industry

Growth rate of passenger transport and freight transport in China, 2004-2006

Layout goal of national expressway network in China

Overall transport demand forecast in China, 2006-2020

Growth in passenger carrying capacity and freight traffic volume of highway, 2001-2006

Proportion of highway transport in overall transport, 2001-2006

Mileage contrast of top five countries with longest expressway mileage

Operating performance of Xiandai Investment Co., Ltd, 2001-2006

Profitability of Xiandai Investment Co., Ltd, 2001-2006

Operating performance of Anhui Wantong Expressway Company Limited, 2001-2006

Profitability of Anhui Wantong Expressway Company Limited, 2001-2006

Operating performance of Expressway Development Co., Ltd, 2001-2006

Profitability of Expressway Development Co., Ltd, 2001-2006

Operating performance of Henan Zhongyuan Expressway Company Limited, 2003-2006

Profitability of Henan Zhongyuan Expressway Company Limited, 2003-2006

Operating performance of Jiangxi Ganyue Expressway Co., Ltd, 2001-2006