On Oct 31, 1988, the Shanghai-Jiading Expressway, the first expressway on the Chinese mainland, was completed and opened to traffic, achieving a breakthrough in New China. The expressway starts at Qilianshan Road in downtown Shanghai and ends at the South Gate of Jiading. It has a total length of 15.9 kilometers and is designed for speed of up to 120 kilometers per hour.

In 1990, the Shenyang-Dalian Expressway, with a total length of 375 kilometers, known as the "No 1 Road in China" was completed, marking a new era of rapid development of expressways.

In 1999, China's expressways exceeded 10,000 km; it reached 50,000 km in 2007. China's highway length passed the United States for the first time in 2012, ranking first in the world. On Dec 31, 2014, the G30 Lianyungang-Horgos Expressway was officially opened to traffic, currently the longest expressway in China, with a total length of 4,395 kilometers, spanning six provinces and autonomous regions including Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang, directly benefiting many scenic spots and tourists along the route.

From dots to lines, lines to networks, expressways in China reached 160,000 kilometers, covering 98.6 percent of cities with a population of more than 200,000, and an average daily traffic exceeding 30.1 million vehicles. The amazing China expressway story is just one metaphor for the speed at which the country accomplishes massive projects.