Beipanjiang Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou province. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By LI Linxu

China has unveiled a five-year plan on developing transport technologies to drive green, smart and digital transformation of the transport sector.

In recent years, the country has made historic progress in its transport system, with its capacity for technological innovation markedly strengthened.

China will focus on technology innovation in the fields of transport infrastructure, equipment and services, according to the plan jointly released by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The document, titled the Five-year Plan for Technological Innovation in the Transport Sector, puts forward the goals, tasks and measures for the next few years.

By 2025, breakthroughs in transport technological R&D applications will be made, innovation capabilities will be comprehensively boosted, and innovation environment will be significantly optimized, according to the plan.

To achieve these goals, the plan targets 18 key R&D directions in six fields, such as the theoretical method and technology of comprehensive transport, key technologies of major infrastructure construction, infrastructure digital upgrade, intelligent and green transport equipment, high-quality intelligent travel, economical, efficient and intelligent logistics, and convenient urban transport operation and service.

To build a comprehensive transport system that is smart, safe and green is the direction of technology innovation, according to the plan.

In the field of smart transport, innovation efforts will focus on the deep integration of transport with a new generation of information technologies, such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of things, and artificial intelligence, and the intelligent application of BeiDou Navigation System, such as high-precise positioning navigation technologies, application standards and codes.

Technologies of safe transport in fields of infrastructure safety monitoring, safety production guarantees and coordinated management control, and transport emergency response and service assurance are emphasized.

Special attention will be paid to green transport technologies, including the innovative application of new energy and clean energy, environmental protection and ecological rehabilitation, as well as comprehensive pollution prevention and control.

The plan also calls for strengthening international sci-tech cooperation and deepening international talent exchange to facilitate the two-way flow of innovation elements.

It pledges to build multi-level and multi-channel international innovation cooperation platforms, including the Global Innovation and Knowledge Center for Sustainable Transport, the Belt and Road International Science and Technology Cooperation Network in Transport Sector, as well as joint labs and research centers, to promote technology transfer, demonstration and application.

A series of major international cooperation projects and talent exchange programs will be implemented, as per the plan.