China achieves major targets for rural road development ahead of schedule

China has achieved its major targets for rural road development under the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) ahead of schedule, the Ministry of Transport said on Wednesday.

Over the first four years of the plan, the country built or upgraded 716,000 kilometers of rural roads, bringing the total length of the rural road network to 4.64 million km — up 6 percent from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, according to the ministry.

So far, 89.5 percent of townships are connected by roads of Class 3 or above, which means paved roads wide enough for buses and trucks, while 94.6 percent of larger villages have access to hardened roads, surpassing planned goals.

A national meeting on advancing the high-quality development of rural roads was held on Tuesday and Wednesday in Central China's Hunan province. The event reviewed progress under the "Four Good Rural Roads" initiative — building good roads, managing them well, maintaining them properly, and operating them effectively — and outlined priorities for the next stage.

Since 2021, the central government has invested 220 billion yuan ($30.6 billion) from vehicle purchase tax funds, leveraging around 2 trillion yuan in total social investment. More than 400 billion yuan has been spent on maintenance, alongside 44.45 billion yuan in subsidies for rural passenger transport.

China now boasts a largely completed rural transport network that links townships and villages more efficiently, with safer, more accessible, and more inclusive transport services. Rural roads are playing a stronger role in advancing rural revitalization, according to the ministry.

Looking ahead, the ministry pledged to continue upgrading the rural road network, strengthen road safety measures, improve rural transport services, and raise the quality of road governance and maintenance, in order to better support China's rural revitalization strategy.

Earlier this month, China unveiled a new national plan to build and upgrade 300,000 km of rural roads by 2027, aiming to boost connectivity, improve road safety and support rural vitalization.

The initiative is part of China's broader goal to build a modern rural transportation system that is well structured, of high quality, efficiently managed and provides strong support for rural development by 2035.

Rural roads are a vital component of China's vast highway system. By the end of 2024, the country's total road coverage reached 5.49 million km, with rural roads accounting for 4.64 million km — nearly 85 percent of the total.