Project Name China-Xinjiang
Highways Project
Region East
Asia and Pacific
Sector Transportation
Project ID CNPA3612
Implementing Agency Mr. Zhuang Caiqing/Mr.
Aman Haji
Deputy
Director/Director
Xinjiang
Communications Dept./Project Execution Office
48
Huanghe Road
P.O.
Box 830000
Urumqi,
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Telephone
No.: (0991) 512308
Fax
No.: (0991) 551872
Date Prepared
February 1994
Projected Board Date July 1994
Available
Project Documents
1. Country/Sector
Background: China's economic transformation and development
since the opening of its economy in the late 1970s has resulted
in a 9.5 percent average annual rate of economic growth. Key
facets of China's economic growth are rapidly increasing domestic
and foreign trade as well as increasing personal mobility and
consumption of energy (derived in China mainly from coal burning). These,
in turn, have caused the demand for transport and better transport
services to surge. Supply capacity, however, is severely
constrained and recognized as one of the most serious bottlenecks
to future economic growth and efficiency. Railways
dominate medium-long distance transport capacity, currently supplying
almost 60% of services and are continuing to expand capacity for
longer haul services. Waterways supply much of the short-medium
distance capacity in coastal regions as well as long distance
services on major rivers and also are undergoing improvement. Motorization
(including use of heavier trucks) is growing rapidly but road
transport, due to historical reasons, has not been widely developed
in much of China outside its cities. The road network
ranks among the sparsest in the World relative to geographic area
or population and is quite unsafe. Few expressways
exist, and about 30 percent of rural communities do not have all
weather vehicular access of any kind. In recognition
of the highway network's underdevelopment and the role that road
transport must play as a competitive mode in the future, governments
at all levels have embarked on a major highway investment and
improvement program as well as promotion of a non-state owned
trucking and bus service industry.
2. In
the road transport subsector the Government of China's (GOC) basic
strategy is to develop a national highway network for the exclusive
use of motorized vehicles, giving implementation priority to those
corridors with heavy traffic and congestion and to corridors which
serve the border areas and trade with neighboring countries. The
Ministry of Communications (MOC) has formulated a plan to develop,
the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS), consisting of 12 interprovincial
trunk expressways spanning China and totalling some 25,000 km
to be built during the next decades. At the provincial/regional
level, the strategy is to concentrate on the maintenance of the
networks and on the expansion and improvement of provincial and
rural road networks currently totalling more than 1 million km,
to provide for greater mobility and to stimulate socioeconomic
activity, particularly in the less developed regions.
3. On
the road transport policy side, growing attention is being paid
to removing administrative and physical barriers to interprovincial
trade and to redefinition of government's role in transport in
light of rapid administrative decentralization and growing non-state
sector
involvement. MOC is expected to be strengthened to
carry out its reformed mandate in matters such as finance, standards
for planning, design and operation of the NTHS. Provincial
and municipal governments are expected to continue to mobilize
most investment resources required (including access to private
investment and capital markets) and to seek greater expenditure
and system efficiency through improved highway planning and investment
strategies, as well as to modernize maintenance capacity and improve
cost recovery. Local governments are also expected
to facilitate road user services and road construction industry
growth through deregulation and promotion of competition, access
to modern technology and better management. The Bank
has prepared a report (No.
4. Xinjiang
Region. Xinjiang is the largest of China's 30 provinces
and autonomous regions, with a land area of 1.6 million square
kilometers (15% of China's total land area). It borders
eight countries - Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The Region's current
population is about 15.3 million (1.3% of China's total population). The
average population density is about 9.2 people/km2 (10% of that
for China) thus rendering the provision of transport infrastructure
and services rather costly. Socioeconomic indicators
confirm a significant level of growth in the Region. Between
1978 and 1990, the GNP increased at an annual rate of 10.7 percent. GNP
per capita in 1990 was Y 1688, which is about 90 percent of the
national average and has increased at an annual rate of 15 percent
over 1978-90. Trends in the increase in China's road
traffic are also typical for Xinjiang, particularly around the
capital, Urumqi with a population of about one million. Xinjiang
has only one rail line and no water transport.
Consequently, highway transport is the major travel mode within
the Region and with the neighboring countries. In 1990,
highways accounted for 94 percent of the passengers and 55 percent
of the passenger-kilometers, and 85 percent of the freight tons
and 44 percent of the ton-kilometers in Xinjiang.
5. The
density of the highway system in Xinjiang is 1.57 km/km2 (15%
of that for China) and many villages do not have access to a highway.
Moreover, only 38% of the roads are paved and the pavements are
of low bearing capacity for the vehicles that circulate on them
and for the prevailing harsh weather. Moreover, the
network is not well maintained and traffic accidents are high. In
addition, due to historical reasons, remoteness of Xinjiang, and
its numerous ethnic groups, the labor force in the highway subsector
is generally not as well trained as in the interior provinces
and the institutions are generally weaker. Xinjiang
is giving priority to expanding the highway network; maintaining,
strengthening and rehabilitating the network; strengthening the
institutions and training their labor force; and improving the
efficiency of road user services (trucking and passenger transport). However,
limited financial resources sharpen the need for better planning
and prioritization of investments and for ensuring that new and
improved roads are not built at the expense of
maintaining the existing network. As in the rest of
the Provinces, Xinjiang is trying to increase financial resources
for the highway
subsector.
6. Influence
Area. The Turpan-Urumqi-Dahuangshan Highway (TUDH),
the main component of the proposed Xinjiang Highway Project, serves
one of the most heavily developed corridors in the Region and
forms a main part of the basic cross pattern of major highways
centered on Urumqi. It serves as the northern and eastern
gateways to Urumqi. Moreover, the section of the highway
from Urumqi to Turpan is a part of one of the 12 NTHS expressways.
The municipality of Urumqi and the prefectures of Turpan and Changji
that
this highway serves, accounted in 1990 for about 20 percent of
the population and 40 percent of civilian vehicles for the whole
Region. These areas also contain many touristic attractions
and significant oil and gas fields. In 1992 Xinjiang
was granted autonomy in economic matters, which would allow local
leaders the same flexibility already enjoyed by the provincial
leaders of Guangdong and Fujian. Xinjiang is increasing
its efforts at attracting foreign investments and fostering economic
cooperation with neighboring and other countries. In
March, 1993, the central government opened the oil and gas sector
including the extensive Xinjiang reserves to foreign participation.
7. Project
Objectives. The broad objectives of the proposed project
are to: (a) support the continued development of road
infrastructure to facilitate mobility and increase the efficiency
of road transport in the interest of stimulating economic activity;
(b) promote the development of institutional capabilities of the
Region's highway agencies for transport planning and investment
prioritization, construction and maintenance; (c) improve the
efficiency of road passenger transport services; (d) increase
the safety of road transport; and (e) improve highway maintenance
operations to better preserve past investments in the Region's
roads.
8. Project
Description. The main components of the project are:
(a) construction
of a new 285.6 km highway on new right-of-way between Turpan,
Urumqi and Dahuangshan of which about 104.1 km would be Class
1 (4-lanes) and the remaining 181.5 km would be Class 2 (motor
vehicles only) highways (2-lanes). However, the
right-of-way required for a 4-lane Class 1 road would be provided
for the full length of TUDH. TUDH would be operated
as a toll facility;
(b) upgrading/reconstructing
about 16 km of roads that interconnect and feed traffic to the
proposed TUDH at major intersections/interchanges;
(c) strengthening
the Region's capabilities for investment planning, design, construction,
maintenance and operation of highways through institutional strengthening
of Xinjiang Communications Department (XCD); Highway Administration
Bureau; Highway Planning, Survey and Design Institute; Traffic
Science Institute; Communications School; Technical Workers School;
and Xinjiang High Grade Highway Construction Authority. This
would involve training of staff and purchase of specialized equipment;
(d) upgrading
the Region's capabilities in highway maintenance through: (i)
a study of highway maintenance which aims at improving the institutional
setup for planning and implementing road maintenance, identifying
required investments to rehabilitate and maintain
the highway network, and defining a maintenance program for possible
financing in a future Bank supported project, (ii) training, (iii)
purchase of equipment for laboratories, for highway maintenance;
and operation and maintenance of TUDH;
(e) increasing
road safety through: (i) improvement of analysis and
research into traffic accidents; (ii) improvement of traffic law
enforcement with emphasis on speed regulation and drunken driving;
and (iii) a pilot program on black spots improvement. These
activities involve training, technical assistance and purchase
of equipment;
(f) improving
the quality and reducing the costs of intercity and rural passenger
transport through: (i) a policy oriented study which
would make recommendations aimed at improving the passenger transport
industry structure, competition, operations and regulations; and
(ii) taking steps towards implementation of the recommendations
of this study.
9. Project
Cost and Financing. The project will be financed through
(a) funds supplied by the Regional Government ($126.1 million),
(b)a grant from the Central Government (Ministry of Communications)
of about $41.4 million, and (c) the World Bank loan of $150 million.
10. Project Implementation. The
executing agency for the project is the Xinjiang Communications
Department. It has established a Project Execution
Office (PEO) to manage the project. PEO would also
be responsible for the construction of TUDH and related interconnecting
roads and their supervision as well as providing its related equipment. The
Highway Administration Bureau would be responsible for the pilot
program of removal of accident black spots, study of highway maintenance
as well as for the equipment for maintenance of the highway network
(other than TUDH). TUDH and the interconnecting roads would be
constructed under 11 contracts to be awarded following International
Competitive Bidding procedures. Construction supervision
would be provided by a joint foreign/local
supervision team. The proposed arrangements for the
implementation and supervision of TUDH and its interconnecting
roads are considered satisfactory.
11. Environmental/Resettlement
Aspects. The Environmental Assessment (EA) for TUDH
was reviewed during the preappraisal mission in April 1993. Additional
studies were identified to be conducted, including livestock migration
survey, detailed cultural relics survey, impact study of construction
traffic, and social survey of people affected by resettlement. Subsequently,
based on the results of these studies, the revised EA, EA Summary
and Environmental Action Plan were submitted in September 1993. These
documents as well as the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) were discussed
during appraisal and the revised documents were submitted in January
1994 and fount to be satisfactory. Approximately 1,200
people to be affected by highway construction will be resettled
under the RAP.
Contact Point:
Public Information Center
The World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20433
Telephone No.: (202) 458-5454
Fax No.: (202) 522-1500
Note: This information is on an evolving project. Certain
components may not necessarily be included in the final project.
