Ports and their expansion already during the 1970s moved to the foreground as China started to speed up its industrialization. Equally important were transportation lines to the interior of the country for which railways have continued to play an overriding role. China was slowly abandoning outdated steam engines and introducing diesel engines on its railway lines, and occasionally electrical locomotives. A problem, and still remaining, was an insufficient supply of electrical power. Large hydropower resources were at the time recognized in Southwest but would require extensive and expensive power lines.

Very little mechanical devices were seen in transportation as conveyor belts and forklifts were still rare. Efforts were made to mechanize various operation, although almost all manual work in agriculture and industry usually remained very arduous.