Passengers experience new urban light rail in Liuzhou Smart Transportation Industrial Park. [Photo by Tan Weili/people.cn]

The smart transportation industry in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has realized the development of the entire industry chain of R&D and design, infrastructure, spare parts support, vehicle manufacturing, operation, as well as maintenance.

Located in Liudong New District, Liuzhou Smart Transportation Industrial Park covers an area of 2,400 mu (160 hectares) and has a total investment of 3 billion yuan ($423.97 million). It is currently the only rubber track system industrial park in Southwestern China with the largest footprint and the most complete industrial chain.

The park will be constructed in two phases. The first phase, spanning 1,100 mu, was started in July 2017, with a total investment of about 2 billion yuan. It is planned to have five major functional areas covering vehicle repair, component support, R&D and design, operation and maintenance, as well as depots. At present, 16 construction units, including the assembly shop, have been built.

The park has completed the industrial investment promotion of vehicle assembly, traction systems, large auto parts, vehicle interiors, signals, communication, power supply, track beams, and turnouts. It has introduced one Fortune Global 500 company, two China's top 500 enterprises, and five leading enterprises in the rail transit industry.

"By introducing leading rail transit enterprises, Liuzhou has built the park into a domestic first-class rail transportation advanced equipment manufacturing service base that integrates rail transit R&D and design, vehicle, auxiliary equipment manufacturing, maintenance services, as well as practical training," said a person in charge of Liuzhou Rail Transit Group.

The assembly workshop in the park has the ability to produce 200 vehicles per year, and has received orders from ASEAN countries. According to the industrial development plan, it is expected that the total output value of the industrial chain will be about 5 billion yuan by the end of this year, and about 20 billion yuan by 2025.