At the 2026 National Transportation Work Conference, it was proposed to accelerate the construction of a modern, high-quality national comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, emphasizing integrated development, safety enhancement, digital and intelligent upgrades, and green transformation. The "One Network, Four Modernizations" framework serves as the central theme and guiding principle for transportation efforts in the current and upcoming period. The Department of Science and Technology at the Ministry of Transport will base its work on the strategic goals of building a strong transportation system and a strong nation in science and technology. It will deeply understand, accurately grasp, and fully implement these goals, effectively updating concepts, transforming mindsets, and innovating methods. The department will accelerate the achievement of high-level self-reliance and strength in transportation science and technology to more robustly support the "One Network, Four Modernizations" initiative and better lead the development of new, quality productive forces.
The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical phase for building a strong nation in science and technology and largely completing the construction of a strong transportation system. The pioneering role of technological innovation in leading the development of a strong transportation system is unprecedented, as is the intensity of resource investment in technological innovation. The transportation industry must seize the new opportunities presented by the latest technological revolution and industrial transformation. It must closely align with the new requirements of the "One Network, Four Modernizations" construction. With the main focus on achieving high-level technological self-reliance and leading the development of new productive forces, and guided by the accelerated construction of an intelligent comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network, the industry will take the large-scale innovative application of artificial intelligence as its main battleground. Efforts will focus on strengthening technological research, innovation demonstration, industrial integration, and strategic scientific and technological capabilities. This will establish a new path for the integrated development of technology and industry, following the sequence of "technological breakthrough - scenario verification - industrial application - system upgrade," to provide solid scientific and technological support for the "One Network, Four Modernizations" initiative.
The year 2026 marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The Department of Science and Technology will diligently implement the spirit of the National Transportation Work Conference. It will emphasize leadership through technological research, building a digital-intelligent foundation, demonstrating innovative projects, and implementing innovation actions to propel transportation science and technology innovation to new heights, ensuring a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
Accelerating Major Technological Research: Efforts will be intensified in major research areas for "Intelligent Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Transportation," focusing on intelligent, green, and integrated directions as well as frontier technologies. A batch of key technology and equipment R&D tasks will be strategically deployed to swiftly form competitive advantages in science and technology. Management of national key R&D programs, such as "Transportation Infrastructure" and "Transport Vehicles and Intelligent Transportation Technology," will be strictly overseen to ensure the delivery of landmark scientific achievements, the cultivation of high-level top-notch innovative talent, and the attainment of high-level scientific awards. Demonstrations will be deepened for national major science and technology projects in areas including the safety, resilience, and intelligent regulation of transportation infrastructure, maritime transportation safety and emergency response, and the integration of transportation and energy. The work pattern of "Grand Science, Grand Platforms, Grand Talent" will be accelerated, with plans to establish over 100 forward-looking ministerial-level scientific innovation platforms. Full efforts will be made to secure the establishment of national-level scientific innovation bases, such as National Technology Innovation Centers. Focusing on critical scenarios like cross-river, cross-sea, cross-bay, and high-plateau frozen regions, and in conjunction with major transportation projects, organized scientific research will be conducted to accelerate the transformation of scientific achievements into real productive forces.
Accelerating the Construction of a Digital-Intelligent Base for Intelligent Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Transportation: The development of the "1+N+X" comprehensive transportation large model system will be expedited. Adhering to the principles of "market leadership with government support; building while using, using to promote building," a more robust technical foundation will be constructed. The development and deployment of vertical domain models and urgently needed, practical intelligent agents for emergency dispatch, statistical monitoring, and road network management and control will be accelerated, forming a large model system characterized by "general-purpose and specialized models working in coordination." Upholding the approach of "promoting research, application, and production through competition," the second Comprehensive Transportation Large Model Intelligent Agent Innovation Application Competition will be held at a higher level, yielding a new batch of "single-event champions." Proactive development and application of intelligent agents will be intensified around high-value, comprehensive typical scenarios in the transportation sector. The construction of the National Comprehensive Transportation Information Platform 2.0 will be accelerated. Following the "one system, one intelligent agent" construction requirement, breakthroughs will be achieved within the year in intelligent agents for road network operation monitoring, the 12328 service, and the management of "two passengers, one hazardous goods" vehicles. This will promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence into industry management and services, creating "smart brains" and "data hubs" capable of analysis, reasoning, and decision-making.
Accelerating the Construction of Six Major Innovation Projects: Efforts will be intensified to promote the integrated innovation of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, new energy, 5G/6G, and satellite internet with the transportation sector. Through the "technology + project" model, a batch of landmark innovation projects for the intelligent comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network will be developed around six key directions, exploring new models for the transition of transportation from digitalization and informatization to intelligentization and autonomy. Firstly, focusing on typical scenarios like container port evacuation and bulk cargo trunk line logistics, innovation projects such as intelligent driving for trucks on major corridors and autonomous fleet navigation for inland river freight vessels will be created, yielding a batch of "new-quality infrastructure, new-quality vehicles, new-quality systems, and new-quality services." Secondly, addressing pain points and bottlenecks in the service resilience of transportation systems, major innovation projects like intelligent control and management of major disasters affecting transportation facilities and free-flow tolling systems for highways will be established. This will build infrastructure "intelligent agents" with capabilities for self-perception, self-decision-making, and self-execution, forming a group of innovation demonstrations that are "perceivable, accessible, and credible" to the public. Thirdly, aiming to lead future transportation development, plans will be made to create pioneering innovation projects for intelligent comprehensive three-dimensional transportation in metropolitan areas. Continuous innovation and application of maglev systems will be pursued to build efficient, cross-regional, multi-modal coordinated transportation and autonomous intelligent operation systems for metropolitan areas and city clusters. Through the implementation of these six major innovation projects, the continuous discovery and cultivation of "good projects" in transportation will be pursued, persistently innovating new paradigms for the "One Network, Four Modernizations."
Accelerating the Implementation of Three Major Innovation Actions: The "AI + Transportation" Ten-Hundred-Thousand Innovation Action will be implemented. Focusing on ten major areas including intelligent driving, smart shipping, smart logistics, and intelligent safety supervision, over a hundred high-value scenario application demonstrations will be organized. This will bring together over a thousand innovation entities, promote the application in 860 typical scenarios, facilitate the large-scale innovative application of artificial intelligence, and create a dynamic environment of healthy competition in AI development. Emerging and future industries, such as embodied intelligent equipment and hydrogen energy transport equipment, will be cultivated. More national AI pilot and application bases in the transportation sector will be constructed to high standards and quality.
The "Hundred Data Sets Leading the Way" Innovation Action will be implemented. High-quality data sets will be developed for comprehensive transportation planning, low-altitude traffic logistics, road network and waterway operations, among others. The development and utilization of public data resources will be strengthened, with the formulation of public data resource catalogs and authorization operation standards, substantially advancing the authorized operation of public data. Data sharing and exchange will be deepened to achieve "gather all that should be gathered, share all that should be shared," forming a work pattern with clear responsibilities and coordinated efforts between the national and provincial levels. Network and data security guarantees will be reinforced.
The "Fast, Excellent, Strong" Standardization Reform and Innovation Action will be implemented. The conversion of industry standards into national standards and the transformation of recommended standards into mandatory standards will be accelerated. A mechanism for the rapid iteration and update of the standard system and a "pre-standardization" work mechanism will be established, strengthening the coordinated development of technological innovation and standardization. A standard system for the innovative application of "AI + Transportation" will be formulated. The supply of key standards in critical areas such as artificial intelligence, land-air coordination, multimodal transport, safety enhancement, and green low-carbon development will be enhanced. Efforts will be made to improve the internationalization level of standards to better lead the development of new, quality productive forces in transportation.