Total length of express ways in China 2009-2023

As of 2023, China's total highway length approached 183,600 kilometers, an increase of 6,400 kilometers from the previous year. During the past 15 years, the length of expressways in China had expanded 1.8 times from 65,055 kilometers in 2009. 

China’s growing highway network

With the advent of the 1990s, the focus of urban development in China shifted to building a nationwide network of highways. By 2020, there were 13 provinces in the country with over 200,000 kilometers of expressway network, with Sichuan Province having the longest expressway at more than 394,000 kilometers.

Road transportation in China

One of the reasons for the expansion of the road network is to promote the development of the logistics industry. In China, Jiangsu Province serves as a logistics hub, with nearly 677 million drivers using the region's highways in 2020, surpassing Guangdong Province as the busiest province in the country.