China Drafts Highway Law Revision to Regulate Post-Toll Expressway Maintenance

China's Ministry of Transport has released a draft amendment to the Highway Law for public consultation, introducing clear legal avenues to fund expressway maintenance after toll concessions expire. Under the proposed rules, expressways and independent bridges and tunnels whose debt-repayment or concession periods end will be brought under unified government management, with provincial governments permitted to approve tolls specifically for ongoing upkeep. The draft also elevates toll rate approvals to provincial people's governments and updates statutory language to align with national fiscal and debt-issuance standards.

As the first generation of China's capital-intensive expressways approaches the end of their operational concession terms, local authorities face significant funding gaps for long-term road maintenance. Granting legal authority to levy fees for upkeep prevents maintenance deficits across a network that carries over half of the country's road freight turnover, directly influencing national logistics efficiency and commercial transport costs.

China's Ministry of Transport has published a draft amendment to the Highway Law for public consultation, proposing targeted adjustments to ensure sustainable maintenance funding for expressways as initial operating terms expire. According to explanatory materials released by the ministry and reported by Xinhua, the Highway Law has undergone five revisions since taking effect in 1998. Over that period, China's total road network expanded to 5.579 million kilometers by the end of 2025, including 199,000 kilometers of expressways. While expressways account for roughly 3.6 percent of total road mileage, they handle over 50 percent of the nation's road freight turnover. Highways overall carry 73 percent of commercial freight volume and 67 percent of passenger trips nationwide. A central focus of the draft is addressing maintenance funding for expressways once their statutory debt-repayment or commercial concession terms end. Under existing policies, ordinary non-toll road upkeep relies on transfers funded by the refined oil consumption tax, while toll roads cover maintenance from tolls collected during their operating terms. However, current law provides no explicit funding mechanism once toll collection periods conclude. As early expressways reach expiration, the ministry warned of potential operational shortfalls without legal clarity. The draft stipulates that expressways, standalone bridges, and tunnels will transition to unified government management upon the expiration of repayment or concession periods. Local authorities may collect vehicle tolls to finance management and maintenance based on actual needs, with rate schedules subject to provincial-level approval. Tolls will not be levied on sections transferred to municipal administration or fully supported by general public budgets. The amendment also raises the approval authority for toll standards. Currently set jointly by provincial transport and pricing departments, toll rates will now require direct review and approval by provincial people's governments. Furthermore, statutory language on government project financing will be updated from collecting loans and private fundraising to borrowing debt in accordance with law, conforming with the Budget Law's restrictions on local government debt issuance. The public comment period runs through October 7, 2026.