Xiang’an Tunnel Undertakes the Task of Regional Economic Development

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Transportation is the most important infrastructure for supporting urban development. As the traffic fortress connecting eastern Xiamen and Xiangan, Xiangan Tunnel was not only the lifeline of Xiamen economic development, but also an important measure to promote regional development.

Xiang’ an Tunnel was another passageway out the Xiamen Island. After its opening, the distance between Xiamen Island and Xiangan was shortened from forty or fifty kilometers to nine kilometers, and the driving time was shortened from over one hour to about 15 minutes.

The “bottleneck”for Xiamen’s expansion to the east was overcome. Xiangan Tunnel had connected the West Ring Expressway, the Xiangan Avenue, and the Shuiqiong Line, so the barrier of the eastern sea area had been overcome.

The sea cut-off was not only geographic, but emotions and ideas were also cut off. However, now, everything had been changed.

Previously, after passing through the seawall and the battle readiness road, you could reach Xiangan. Xianglan was located in a corner of Xiamen. Its geological position was described as the “end of the wind and the water”. It had poor land,a larger rural population and limited freshwater resources. Compared to the other regions of the island, the unfavorable natural environment of Xiangan had led to its slower development.

Xiaocuo was a village of Xiangan that was nearest to the tunnel entrance. Before the opening of the tunnel, it was the farthest village to the land route of Xiamen Island.60-year-old Zhang had been to Xiamen Island a handful of times in his lifetime.”When I was young,I went to Xiamen once. The national road was still gravel road. After changing to tractor and coach,I had to walk a long way.I set off in the early morning, but arrived at Xiamen at noon, exhausted.”he said,”A few days ago my son drove me to Xiamen through the Xiangan Tunnel. It took only a few minutes. This is really a great development.”

The completion of the Xiangan Tunnel would help to transfer labor-intensive enterprises in theearly stages of urban development out the island. While optimizing the economy of the island, it would also accelerate the construction of the sub-center of Xiamen. Meanwhile, the Xiangan Tunnel will also enhance the functionality of Xiamen, the expansion of urban space, strengthen the leading role of Xiamen regional central city, and promote regional social and economic development.

One report shows how Xiangan District was badly in need of the Xiang’ an Tunnel. Before the opening of the tunnel, the urbanization level of Xiang’ an District was only 11.4%, which was far below the 92.5% of the island, and below the 24% of the districts out of the island. It lacked capital, technology, and talent. With a total population of 300 thousand, its GDP per capita was only 1/4 of the city’s average, and the urban-rural income disparity was huge. In 2003, Xiangan District achieved an annual GDP of 2.37 billion Yuan, accounting for 3% of the city’s 76 billion Yuan. But in2012, the GDP of Xiangan District had reached 27 billion Yuan, accounting for 10% of the city’s GDP.The development speed of it was astonishing.

Xiangan Tunnel has brought other general changes to the Xiangan District. Before the opening of the Tunnel, the Xiangan people mainly lived on carrot planting and fishing.”Sticky soil, salty water, and eighteen meters long well rope”was an old saying in Xiang’ an. But now the villagers aresaying,”The Soil is not sticky. Water is not salty. The transportation is so convenient that we can visit our relatives in one day.”This vivid description reflects the great changes in Xiangan.

In terms of transportation to Taiwan, Xiangan has also played an important role. The Xiamen Airport and the Xiamen-Kinmen ship route from Wutong to Kinmen are located in the island side ofthe tunnel. The Liuwudian Port is located on the Xiang’ an side, which was only 5 nautical miles to Greater Kinmen and Lesser Kinmen. The tunnel connected the airport and the port to form a sea-jet-one passage of “airport-Xiang’ an Tunnel-Liuwudian Port-Jinmen”, making Xiangan an important base for trade and cultural exchanges with Taiwan.

Dadeng Taiwan commodity market was the most successful project after the opening of Xiangan Tunnel. In 2012, the volume of transaction in this market reached more than 1 billion Yuan, and it received 3.5 million tourists.A number of mainland companies have been negotiating with Taiwanese companies, planning to bring cosmetics and electronic products and some other high-value Taiwanese goods to the Dadeng Market. Before the opening of Xiang’ an Tunnel, it took three hours from the island to Dadeng. But now it takes only 40 minutes. Many citizens and tourists have arrived here in order to make the most of the island’s rewarding experience.