On the morning of December 15, the inner ring elevated expressway of Huai'an was completed and opened to traffic. Yao Xiaodong, Secretary of the municipal Party committee, attended the opening ceremony and announced, "The inner ring elevated expressway is officially opened to traffic." In his speech, he pointed out that this is a long-awaited event for the whole city, marking the beginning of a new three-dimensional transportation era for Huai'an. Mayor Cai Lixin presided over the opening ceremony.

Yao Xiaodong, on behalf of the municipal Party committee and the municipal government, extended warm congratulations on the completion and opening of the inner ring elevated expressway, and heartfelt thanks to more than 1000 builders working day and night on the front line, and to the citizens who have been caring about, understanding and supporting the construction of this project. He said that transportation is the blood and skeleton for the development of Huai'an. The people of Huai'an are proud of the history of this city as "the transitional city from water transportation to land transportation and the thoroughfare to nine provinces", and have keen expectations for the revitalization of its transportation. In recent years, we have adhered to the overall and strategic vision to promote the development of Huai'an's transportation industry and accelerate the construction of a modern comprehensive transportation system. This 48 km long inner ring elevated expressway will relieve to a great extent the traffic pressure in the urban area and the drivers, therefore, can truly enjoy the pleasure of driving on this way. At the same time, the Xuzhou-Suqian-Huai'an-Lianyungang Railway and Huai'an section in the Lianyungang-Yangzhou-Zhenjiang Railway will be opened to traffic on December 16. Thus, next year, we can take the high-speed railway directly to the metropolises like Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, etc. Thus, Huai'an people's travel mode will become more and more diverse and efficient.