A high-speed railway linking Shanghai, Nanjing of Jiangsu Province and Hefei of Anhui Province in east China has achieved key construction milestones, with part of a massive bridge achieving closure and another part successfully rotating to its desired position.
On Thursday afternoon, in Nanjing, the final steel box girder of the cable-stayed bridge spanning the over-100-meter-wide Chuhe River was successfully hoisted and installed, marking the closure of the main span of the Nanjing Grand Bridge.
The bridge and its connecting roads are located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, with a total length of approximately 14 kilometers. The bridge's construction began in 2023.
"This is a double-tower, five-span, hybrid girder cable-stayed bridge. During the preliminary stage, we simulated key construction processes through 3D modeling to mitigate potential risks in advance. Through modular management, we improved the efficiency of installing steel box girder by 30 percent," said Geng Xuqiu, technical director of the Nanjing Grand Bridge of high-speed railway linking Shanghai, Nanjing and Hefei.
Another part of the massive bridge rotated to its targeted position across the Beijing-Shanghai railway on Wednesday, and precisely connected with the main line of the high-speed railway linking Shanghai, Nanjing and Hefei, which is currently under construction. "After the bridge rotates to its desired position, it will open the beam erection passage from Jiangsu Province to Anhui Province, improving the efficiency of subsequent construction," said Ding Yuhang, an on-site safety manager.
The Shanghai-Nanjing-Hefei High-Speed Railway, which starts in Shanghai, passes through several cities in Jiangsu Province before entering Anhui Province.
The line, which is approximately 554 kilometers long with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour, serves to promote the high-quality, integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.
The railway is part of China's high-speed rail network that centers around eight main vertical lines linking the north and south and eight horizontal lines connecting the east and west.
High-speed railway linking Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei sees new construction progress
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
