A unique comprehensive transport guarantee system for the annual airshow in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, has taken shape in superb fashion, Yan Panyu, deputy director of the city's municipal transportation bureau, said on Tuesday at a news conference promoting this year's show — the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition.
The exhibition has played an important role in promoting economic development — and especially transportation development — in Zhuhai after its inauguration in 1996. In those 30 years, the city has made a historic transition from a final destination to a transport hub.
"Whereas the inaugural airshow saw limited highway access and only one passenger dispersal method, a complete, well-linked transport network for land, sea, air and rail is now in place," Yan said, noting that the network has grown from "one highway for one show" to "multi-modal transport for one major event".
Zhuhai Airport, which opened in 1995, has seen substantial passenger growth over the past three decades, with annual throughput first exceeding 10 million in 2018. It became the first airport in a prefecture-level city in China to reach the milestone without an international passenger port of entry. Passenger throughput reached a record 13.25 million in 2025. It now offers routes to 79 domestic cities, Yan added.
The upcoming 16th event, one of Asia's major airshows, will run from Dec 7 to 13 in Zhuhai, with more than 1,100 companies from 50 countries and regions expected to participate. Authorities celebrate the 30th anniversary of the airshow this year.
Wang Zhuo, deputy director of Zhuhai rail transit bureau, said that in recent years the city has been working toward becoming a national comprehensive transport hub and building a rail transit center on the west bank of the Pearl River estuary.
"Zhuhai now has two passenger rail lines in operation, including the Guangzhou-Zhuhai intercity railway and Zhuhai Airport railway line that opened fully in 2024, running directly from Gongbei to the airport and the airshow site," she said.
Meanwhile the Zhuhai-Zhaoqing and Guangzhou-Zhuhai (Macao) high-speed railways are under construction and are of great significance to Zhuhai and bordering Macao Special Administrative Region, Wang said.
"The 350 kilometer-per-hour Zhuhai-Zhaoqing railway, the first of its kind for the Zhuhai-Macao area, will connect northbound and southwest corridors and is expected to open at the end of next year, she said.
Also, the feasibility study for the Hengqin-Hengzhou section of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai (Macao) high-speed railway has been approved, with construction due to start this year. It will connect to the Zhuhai-Zhaoqing railway and bring Macao and Hengqin into the national high-speed network as key arteries supporting and promoting Zhuhai's high-quality development, she said.
