(Photo/Xinhua)

With more high-speed railway lines being open and operated in China, many provinces have built high-speed railway networks between their prefecture-level cities.

As a pioneer region in this drive, the Yangtze River Delta in east China, which includes Shanghai municipality, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, has speeded up the construction of high-speed railways in recent years.

On December 1, 2019, Fuyang and Bozhou, both prefecture-level cities in northwestern Anhui province, opened high-speed railway lines, marking a milestone of all 16 prefecture-level cities being connected by high-speed railways.

Following that, all 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu province have also opened high-speed railway lines.

To date, a total of 22 high-speed railway lines are in operation in the Yangtze River Delta, covering Shanghai municipality and 40 prefecture-level cities in the area.

While southeast China's provinces seem to be taking the lead in building a more comprehensive high-speed railway network, northern and western provinces, such as Shaanxi, are striving to connect all prefecture-level cities with high-speed railways in the near future.

China boasts the world's longest high-speed railway network, which accounts for two-thirds of the world's total high-speed railways, said Wei Houkai, head of the Rural Development Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The growth of high-speed railways has not only made it more convenient for people to get around, but also promoted the exchanges of economy, culture, and technology and facilitated harmonious development among various areas, Wei added.