The Zhitong Finance App learned that recently, the China Railway Administration released the “15th Five-Year Plan” for Railway Science and Technology Innovation (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”), which clarifies the guiding ideas, basic principles, development goals, key tasks and guarantee measures for China's railway science and technology innovation work during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. The “Plan” is of great significance in promoting self-reliance and self-improvement in railway science and technology, promoting high-quality railway development, and supporting the construction of a strong scientific and technological country and a strong transportation country. Meanwhile, the “Plan” will be submitted to the Central Science and Technology Office for the record. This marks the first time that a railway science and technology innovation plan has been incorporated into the national science and technology management system.
The “Plan” clearly states that by 2030, we will basically establish a scientific and technological innovation system leading the modern development of railways with mature mechanisms, coordination, perfect platforms, gathering talents, and extensive exchanges. Technological strength has been greatly improved, major breakthroughs have been made in key technologies, technical equipment is more advanced and reliable, engineering construction technology is leading the world, transportation service capabilities have been significantly improved, intelligent application scenarios have achieved full coverage, safety and security capabilities have been comprehensively improved, and green and low-carbon technology has been promoted in depth. It provides railway technology support to build a safe, convenient, efficient, green, economical, inclusive and resilient sustainable transportation system, and lays a solid foundation for pioneering the modernization of China's railways.
The full text is as follows:
The State Railway Administration issued the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Railway Science and Technology Innovation”
Recently, the State Railway Administration issued the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Railway Science and Technology Innovation” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”), which clarifies the guiding ideas, basic principles, development goals, key tasks and safeguard measures for China's railway science and technology innovation work during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. The “Plan” is of great significance in promoting self-reliance and self-improvement in railway science and technology, promoting high-quality railway development, and supporting the construction of a strong scientific and technological country and a strong transportation country. Meanwhile, the “Plan” will be submitted to the Central Science and Technology Office for the record. This marks the first time that a railway science and technology innovation plan has been incorporated into the national science and technology management system.
The “Plan” points out that since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, the railway industry has had world-leading engineering construction technology, more advanced and applied equipment manufacturing technology, more convenient and efficient transportation service technology, breakthroughs in digital intelligence green safety technology, and a more perfect scientific and technological innovation system, but there are also weak links and shortcomings such as basic research and original innovation that need to be strengthened, key core technologies have shortcomings, transportation service quality needs to be optimized, top scientific and technological talent resources are still insufficient, and there are blockages in scientific and technological innovation and industrial integration. In the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, facing the triple era of global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, comprehensive advancement of national science and technology innovation strategies, and continuous upgrading of people's travel needs, railway science and technology innovation must focus on promoting railway safety improvement, digital intelligence upgrading, green transformation and integrated development, build a world-leading scientific and technological innovation system, cultivate and develop new quality productivity, and establish solid scientific and technological support to participate in global competition, serve the overall situation of the country, and meet people's needs.
The “Plan” clearly states that by 2030, we will basically establish a scientific and technological innovation system leading the modern development of railways with mature mechanisms, coordination, perfect platforms, gathering talents, and extensive exchanges. Technological strength has been greatly improved, major breakthroughs have been made in key technologies, technical equipment is more advanced and reliable, engineering construction technology is leading the world, transportation service capabilities have been significantly improved, intelligent application scenarios have achieved full coverage, safety and security capabilities have been comprehensively improved, and green and low-carbon technology has been promoted in depth. It provides railway technology support to build a safe, convenient, efficient, green, economical, inclusive and resilient sustainable transportation system, and lays a solid foundation for pioneering the modernization of China's railways.
The “Plan” proposes key tasks in the seven task areas of railway science and technology innovation during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. The first is the field of basic research and cutting-edge technology, which focuses on promoting innovation in autonomous and controllable technologies such as chips, promoting the integration and application of next-generation information technology, accelerating the development of new green and intelligent materials and the application of new technologies, and promoting a high degree of collaboration between low-altitude technology and railway business. Second, in the field of engineering construction, the focus is on promoting systematic innovation in intelligent construction technology, breaking through bottlenecks in complex environmental engineering construction technology, and strengthening the efficiency and resilience guarantee of existing facilities. Third, in the field of technical equipment, the focus is on carrying out engineering technology research for higher-speed trains, promoting the development of technical equipment for high-altitude railways, promoting the upgrading of green intelligent equipment, and deepening technological innovation in engineering construction and maintenance equipment. Fourth, in the field of transportation services, the focus is on promoting the intelligent upgrading of passenger transport services, promoting the digital and intelligent transformation of freight services, deepening research on key technologies to improve transportation efficiency, and promoting new breakthroughs in the “integration of the four networks” of rail transit. Fifth, in the field of digital intelligence railways, the focus is on promoting the construction of high-quality data sets, strengthening the construction of railway big data platforms, strengthening collaborative sharing of railway data and network security, and deepening basic research on the application of “artificial intelligence+railways”. Sixth, in the field of safety and security, the focus is on building new business formats and new technology safety lines, improving railway health management and disaster resistance capabilities, strengthening active safety protection capabilities, and raising the level of emergency rescue and protection. The seventh is the green and low-carbon sector, which focuses on promoting technological innovation in green construction, promoting low-carbon transformation of transportation equipment, promoting integrated operation and maintenance of green intelligence, and establishing a sound carbon management system. In order to implement the Party Central Committee's deployment requirements at the symposium on strengthening basic research, compared to the “14th Five-Year Plan” railway science and technology innovation plan, the “Plan” added fields of basic research and cutting-edge technology to better promote the self-reliance and self-improvement of railways at a high level.
The “Plan” emphasizes the need to guarantee the implementation of the “Plan” from the five areas of “strengthening organizational leadership, strengthening platform construction, speeding up standard leadership, strengthening talent cultivation, and strengthening the implementation of the plan.”
Policy interpretation of the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Railway Science and Technology Innovation”
In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, strengthen the top-level design of scientific and technological innovation in the industry, plan the “15th Five-Year Plan” for railway science and technology innovation, promote the application of emerging technologies and industrial upgrading, and promote high-quality railway development, the State Railway Administration issued the “15th Five-Year Plan for Railway Science and Technology Innovation” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). The situation is described as follows:
I. Drafting process
According to the China Railway Administration's “15th Five-Year Plan” plan preparation work schedule, the Bureau's Department of Science and Law initiated basic research work in the early stages of preparation of the “Plan”, clarifying planning principles, and systematizing planning ideas and major projects; formed a planning preparation team and working group to coordinate the six units of CRRC, China Railway, China National Energy Group, and the Institute of Railway Science, respectively, leading the planning and preparation of the six major fields of equipment, engineering, transportation, safety, low carbon, and digital intelligence. Through multiple rounds of planning promotion meetings, online seminars, thematic field research and expert review meetings, opinions were widely solicited from major industry enterprises, universities, research institutes and relevant units (departments) of the bureau, and after carrying out and passing macroeconomic policy orientation consistency assessments, scientific and technological innovation consistency reviews, fair competition reviews, legality reviews, and consistency assessments for reducing the burden on the grassroots level, a draft for review was formed in accordance with regulations. In September 2026, the “Plan” was issued and implemented after approval by the Board of Governors.
II. General planning requirements
Based on the three-era proposition of the deep intertwining of the global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the comprehensive advancement of national science and technology innovation strategies, and the continuous upgrading of people's travel needs, the “Plan” adheres to the basic principles of “building a solid foundation, autonomy and control, resilient safety, green intensity, digital intelligence empowerment, digital integration, collaborative innovation, and standard leadership”, and puts forward the overall goals and main goals for 2030 and long-term goals for 2035. Set up a column 1 to “lay out a number of strategic scientific and technological forces, break through a number of key technological bottlenecks, create a number of benchmark demonstration projects, and build new digital intelligence innovation development Pattern, plastic strength Quantify the five main goals of “Open Collaborative Innovation and Development of a New Ecosystem”.
III. Key tasks of planning
In order to implement the Party Central Committee's deployment requirements for strengthening basic research, compared to the “14th Five-Year Plan” railway science and technology innovation plan, the “Plan” added fields of basic research and cutting-edge technology to optimize the formation of seven major task sections for basic research and cutting-edge technology, engineering construction, technical equipment, transportation services, digital intelligence railways, safety and security, and green and low carbon. Separate columns were set up around the seven major task areas to refine and form 61 iconic and leading key projects:
The first is the field of basic research and cutting-edge technology. The four key tasks of “promoting innovation in autonomous and controllable technologies such as chips, promoting the integrated application of next-generation information technology, accelerating the development and application of new green intelligent materials and technology, and promoting a high degree of collaboration between low-altitude technology and railway business” were proposed, and seven key projects were clarified, including “promoting research and application of railway-specific chip technology.”
The second is the field of engineering construction. Three key tasks of “promoting systematic innovation in intelligent construction technology, breaking through construction technology bottlenecks in complex environmental engineering, and strengthening the efficiency and resilience guarantee of existing facilities” were proposed, and 9 key projects were clarified, including “developing a vertical model application platform for railway survey and design”.
The third is the field of technical equipment. The four key tasks of “carrying out engineering technology research for higher-speed trains, promoting the development and development of high-altitude railway technology and equipment, promoting the upgrading of green intelligent equipment, and deepening technological innovation in engineering construction and maintenance equipment” were proposed, and nine key projects were clarified, including “promoting the engineering application of high-speed EMU equipment with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour”.
Fourth, the field of transportation services. Four key tasks were proposed, including “promoting the intelligent upgrading of passenger transport services, advancing the digital and intelligent transformation of freight services, deepening research on key technologies to improve transportation efficiency, and promoting new breakthroughs in all scenarios of the 'four networks integration' of rail transit”, and clarified 10 key projects, including “implementing the smart upgrade project for the 12306 ticket system of China Railway”.
The fifth is the field of digital intelligence railways. The four key tasks of “promoting the construction of high-quality data sets, strengthening the construction of railway big data platforms, strengthening railway data collaborative sharing and network security guarantees, and deepening basic research on the application of 'artificial intelligence+railway'” were proposed, and 8 key projects including “building a big model and computing power infrastructure for the railway industry” were proposed.
The sixth is the field of safety and security. Four key tasks of “building new business formats and new technology safety lines, improving railway health management and disaster resilience capabilities, strengthening active safety protection capabilities, and improving the level of emergency rescue and protection” were proposed, and 9 key projects were clarified, including “developing a multi-source traffic safety perception and risk classification decision model based on lightweight edge intelligence”.
The seventh is a green and low-carbon field. Four key tasks of “promoting innovation in green construction technology, promoting low-carbon transformation of transportation equipment, promoting integrated operation and maintenance of green intelligence, and establishing a sound carbon management system” were proposed, and nine key projects including “promoting the establishment of a railway carbon measurement center” were proposed.
Finally, we guarantee the implementation of the Plan from the five areas of “strengthening organizational leadership, strengthening platform construction, speeding up standards leadership, strengthening talent development, and strengthening plan implementation”.
This article was selected from the “State Railway Administration” official account, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Siyu.