By Wang Shining | wuhudaily.cn

Wuhu is advancing its hub city vision in the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), with its transport sector gaining strong momentum in the first half and delivering solid support to advanced manufacturing, foreign trade and emerging industries, according to the municipal transport bureau.

The city's opening-up capabilities have seen major progress. The Zhujiaqiao port area of Wuhu Port passed a national inspection for expanded opening, increasing the city's open berths to 12, including eight for 10,000-ton-class vessels. From January to June, waterborne foreign trade cargo reached 3.34 million metric tons, up 26.9 percent year-on-year, with 582,400 vehicles exported by water, securing the city's position as the province's top port-based foreign trade hub. Wuhu has also been selected for a national initiative to strengthen comprehensive freight hubs, which will address shortcomings in road-rail-water-air multimodal transport and reduce logistics costs for manufacturing and foreign trade enterprises.

The low-altitude economy and smart shipping are taking shape at an accelerated pace. The city has expanded unmanned aerial vehicle flight airspace to over 5,200 square kilometers, covering 87 percent of its administrative area. An integrated provincial-municipal low-altitude flight service platform has been put into operation, and site selection for the Wuwei general airport has been approved. The transformation of the fully automated inland container terminal at Wuhu Port has been selected as a national pilot project, placing the city's smart shipping development among the country's front-runners.

Wuhu's dual air-and-water cargo hub advantages continue to expand. Wuhu Xuanzhou Airport has launched 22 all-cargo routes, including eight international freight lines, with cargo and mail throughput reaching 44,300 metric tons from January to June, up 88 percent year-on-year. During the same period, Wuhu Port handled 83.86 million metric tons of cargo and 1.02 million TEUs of containers, rising 5.8 percent and 15.9 percent respectively. Rail-water intermodal container volume reached 6,482 TEUs, surging 64.1 percent. The first phase of a smart multimodal transport platform has been put into use, removing data barriers between enterprises and freight train services and boosting logistics coordination efficiency by 10 percent.

Wuhu also leads the country in green shipping equipment. The world's first battery-swapping vessel, Hetun Weilan 01, has been operating steadily, while seven LNG-powered vessels have begun trial voyages. Refueling volume at the Yangtze River inland LNG receiving and transfer station surged 352 percent year-on-year, ranking first among the eight major stations along the river. The city has gained approval for the dismantling of 223 old vessels and the renewal of 27 new ships, securing 423 million yuan in national subsidies to accelerate the green transition of waterway transport.

Construction of a multidimensional road network is advancing steadily. The 14 key provincial transport projects for the year involve a total investment of 34.1 billion yuan, with 3.24 billion yuan invested in the first half. On the expressway front, construction is being accelerated on the Hexian-Wuwei section of the G4231 Nanjing-Jiujiang Expressway, and on the Wuhu Taishan Road Yangtze River Bridge and its approach roads along the S24 Hangzhou-Hefei Expressway. Preliminary work is underway for the expansion of the Wanzhi-Sanshan section of the S28 Liyang-Wuhu Expressway, the Wuhu section of the G50 Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway, and the section from the Wuhu interchange to the Wuhu mainline toll station on the G5011 Wuhu-Hefei Expressway. Among national and provincial trunk roads, construction is speeding up on the Yuxi River Bridge, the Niutun River Bridge on G329, the S457 and G236 first-class highways, and the underpass project where G205 Jiuhua North Road crosses under the Huainan railway line. Phase II of the eastward extension of S334 Eshan Road has been completed and opened to traffic.

In the second half, the municipal transport bureau will continue to expand effective investment in transport, speed up construction of cross-Yangtze expressways and port terminals, and expand multimodal transport services such as direct river-sea shipping and the China-Europe freight train service. It will also apply for a national pilot program on smart shipping, upgrade the smart logistics platform, and continue to promote new energy vehicles and vessels, supporting high-quality development of the city's industries with a modern, comprehensive transport system.