China Transportation - 2024

National air transport system

number of registered air carriers: 56 (2020)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 2,890

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 436,183,969 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 611,439,830 (2018) mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

B

Airports

531 (2024)

Heliports

104 (2024)

Pipelines

76,000 km gas, 30,400 km crude oil, 27,700 km refined petroleum products, 797,000 km water (2018)

Railways

total: 150,000 km (2021) 1.435-m gauge (100,000 km electrified); 104,0000 traditional, 40,000 high-speed

Roadways

total: 5.2 million km (2020)

paved: 4.578 million km (2020) (includes 168000 km of expressways)

unpaved: 622,000 km (2017)

Waterways

27,700 km (2020) (navigable waterways)

Merchant marine

total: 8,314 (2023)

by type: bulk carrier 1,831, container ship 419, general cargo 1,392, oil tanker 1,196, other 3,476

Ports and terminals

major seaport(s): Dalian, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xiamen

container port(s) (TEUs): Dalian (3,672,000), Guangzhou (24,180,000), Ningbo (31,070,000), Qingdao (23,710,000), Shanghai (47,030,300), Shenzhen (28,767,600), Tianjin (20,269,400), Xiamen (12,045,700) (2021)

LNG terminal(s) (import): Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, Tangshan, Zhejiang

river port(s): Guangzhou (Pearl)

Transportation - note

note 1: seven of the world’s ten largest container ports are in China

note 2: China operates one PC 3 or 4 class medium ice breaker and three PC 5 or 6 class light icebreakers
note - PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 3 - year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 2.5 m); PC 4 - year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 120 cm); PC 5 - year-round operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 70-120 cm); PC 6 - summer/autumn operation in medium first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 30-70 cm)