OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings says today in a new report that growth in passenger turnover volume (measured in person-kilometre (km)) on expressways in Guangdong surged 16.9% in 11M15, while that of freight (measured in tonne-km) stayed resilient at 6.7%, reflecting the province's importance as China's leading trading powerhouse that accounts for a third of the nation's manufacturing GDP.

In comparison, nationwide passenger turnover volume rose 1.9% in 2015, while that of freight increased 5.8% as China's economic growth slowed.

The Chinese expressway operators Fitch rates - including Anhui Transportation Holding Group Company Limited (AHTrans, BBB+/Stable), Shenzhen Expressway Company Limited (SZE, BBB/Stable), and Yuexiu Transport Infrastructure Limited's (YXT, BBB-/Stable) - achieved average traffic growth of 6.5%, leading to a 4.8% increase in toll income in 2015.

Fitch believes traffic-volume growth will remain the key revenue driver for expressway operators in 2016, because increasing private-car ownership in China will drive passenger traffic, while booming e-commerce activities would support freight traffic.