The 22.13-km Tianshan Shengli Tunnel, described as the world’s longest expressway tunnel, opened to traffic today (26 December 2025) in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to a report by Chinese official state news agency Xinhua.
The tunnel runs beneath the central Tianshan Mountains and forms part of the G0711 Urumqi–Yuli Expressway, which entered service on the same day.
By routing traffic through the tunnel, the project reduces a journey that previously took several hours across mountainous terrain to around 20 minutes.
The expressway is intended to strengthen links between urban centres in northern and southern Xinjiang.
Through existing road networks, it also connects with major economic regions including Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area and the Chengdu–Chongqing region.
The corridor is positioned as part of wider transport links between China’s eastern economic areas and countries across Eurasia.
The Tianshan mountain range stretches roughly 2,500 km across central Xinjiang, separating Urumqi in the north from Korla in the south.
With the new expressway now operational, travel time between the two cities has been reduced from around seven hours to approximately three hours.
Construction of the expressway took five years.
The scheme covers 324.7 km and involved total investment of 46.7bn yuan (about $6.63bn).
An 11-km section includes 14 bridges and five tunnels, resulting in a bridge-and-tunnel ratio exceeding 90%.
The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel itself is 22.13km long and reaches a maximum burial depth of 1,112.2m.
It crosses 16 geological fault zones and was built under conditions that included high ground stress, strong seismic activity, strict environmental requirements, extreme cold and high altitude.
Running through glaciers, grasslands, forested valleys, Gobi desert and wetlands, the expressway is intended to support freight movement, tourism and closer economic integration between northern and southern Xinjiang.
