Officials and delegates to the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, which ended yesterday, have called for efficient measures for integration of traffic and telecommunication in the Pearl River Delta region.

This comes as a follow-up to the central government's plan at the end of last year to deepen reform and opening up in the area. Under that plan, the delta together with Hong Kong and Macao will be forged into "a globally competitive" and "the most vigorous area in the Asia-Pacific region" by 2020.

"We need some details to deepen the reform and opening up in the area. And integration of traffic and telecommunication may be seen as one of the efficient measures to help boost development of the region," Zhang Zhaoxing, a member to the Provincial People's Congress, told China Daily.

For instance, toll stations should be withdrawn in the region, Zhang said.

"Up to half of toll stations in Guangdong have been set up in the delta area, seriously affecting transport efficiency and investment environment in the area," Zhang said.

Zhang said an integrated annual ticket system should be introduced to allow drivers to go between cities in the region without "road barriers".

"Moreover, construction of the rail transport network should be accelerated, to help develop a one-hour traffic rim within the delta region," Zhang added.

In response, provincial transport authorities said the province will attach more importance to developing expressways, rail and shipping lines connecting the west and the east in the region.

By 2012, expressways in the region will total about 3,000 km, said He Zhongyou, director of the Guangdong provincial department of communication.

"Construction of shipping lines below the Humen Bridge in the east and Lianhuashan Bridge in the west will soon begin," He said.

In telecommunication integration, China Mobile will invest up to 1 billion yuan ($146 million) this year for development of a unified wireless network in the delta region, said Xu Rong, general manager of the company's Guangdong branch.

In August 2008, provincial information industry officials completed a report on the construction of a wireless city group in the region.

"People in the region may soon be able to surf the Internet using the unified network," said Xu, who is also a member of the Provincial People's Congress.

"Also, we will accelerate integration of telecommunication charges in the region. For instance, fees of long-distance calls will be gradually reduced, or a unified standard of charging such calls within cities in the region will be introduced," Xu said.

(China Daily February 18, 2009)