Hujia Expressway leads nation's development

Reporters set off from the Nanxiang entrance/exit of the Hujia Expressway early this month to travel around the country through the expressway network as part of a nationwide campaign marking 100 years of the Communist Party of China.

China’s expressways exceed 160,000 kilometers, ranking first in the world. The Hujia Expressway was the first on the Chinese mainland, with construction beginning in 1984.It is not only an expressway in the sense of traffic, but also an “expressway” in the sense of the nation’s economic development.

In 1984, the fiscal revenue of Jiading was 190 million yuan (US$29.14 million). After the expressway was completed, economic ties between Shanghai and other provinces and cities flourished as were connections with the economic developments of the Yangtze River Delta region. In 1989, just five years after work on the expressway started, the county-level financial revenue of Jiading reached 428 million yuan.

In the 1990s, with the rapid development of Shanghai’s economy, calls for an east extension of the expressway to connect with the urban traffic network were getting louder and louder.

In 1993, the 7.53-kilometer east extension was completed and opened to traffic, which improved the traffic capacity of the Hujia Expressway and promoted the economic and social development of Jiading.

Jiading’s financial gross income reached 76.38 billion yuan last year, and the gross output value of all above designated size industrial enterprises reached 534.17 billion yuan.

In the future, Jiading New City will build an external high-speed trunk network and a national intelligent transport pilot area.