1992年，中国确立了建立社会主义市场经济体制的改革目标。交通运输不断加大改革开放力度，各种运输方式发展取得突破性进展。开展铁路建设大会战，1997年起铁路进行了连续六次大提速。公路和水运实施公路主骨架、水运主通道、港站主枢纽和支持保障系统的“三主一支持”规划，制定了加快建设步伐的目标任务。民航机场建设费和基础设施建设基金、铁路建设基金、内河航运建设基金先后设立。为应对东南亚金融危机，中国实施积极的财政政策，公路建设投资进入“快车道”，高速公路建设大规模兴起。实施西部大开发战略，全面加强西部地区铁路、公路、机场、天然气管道干线建设。提出“修好农村路，服务城镇化，让农民兄弟走上油路和水泥路”发展目标，掀起农村公路建设新高潮。深化港口管理体制改革，加快港口建设。实行邮电分营和邮政政企分开，邮政向信息流、资金流和物流“三流合一”的现代邮政业方向发展。《中长期铁路网规划》《国家高速公路网规划》等一系列规划陆续出台。大力提升交通运输基本公共服务水平，全面加强城乡客运、城市公共交通、交通运输安全应急救助等领域建设。2008年组建交通运输部，交通运输大部门体制改革迈出实质性步伐。同年，京津城际铁路通车运营，中国开启了“高铁时代”。

　　党的十八大以来，交通运输进入了加快现代综合交通运输体系建设的新阶段。2013年，铁路实现政企分开，交通运输大部门体制改革基本落实到位。交通运输全面深化改革，建设法治政府部门，加快综合交通、智慧交通、绿色交通、平安交通“四个交通”建设，围绕“一带一路”建设、京津冀协同发展、长江经济带建设三大国家战略制定发展规划。加快综合交通运输基础设施成网，推进多种运输方式有效衔接。促进现代物流业发展，提升综合运输服务保障水平。加强交通运输基本公共服务供给和管理，支持集中连片特困地区交通运输基础设施、城乡客运、城市公共交通发展。推进东、中、西、东北“四大板块”区域交通协调发展，西部地区高铁加快发展，中西部地区交通条件显著改善。2013年，西藏墨脱公路建成通车，中国真正实现县县通公路。

In 1992 China set the reform goal of establishing a socialist market economic system. Reform and opening-up efforts were furthered in transport while the development of various modes of transport achieved breakthrough progress. Since 1997, it has raised its average railway speed six times as a result of large-scale construction. A plan was made to build a transport framework where highways, waterways and ports play the major role, and put in place an advanced transport support system. A goal was set to accelerate related construction. China began to collect civil airport construction fees, and set up a civil airport infrastructure construction fund, a railway construction fund and an inland water transport construction fund in succession. To address the Financial Crisis starting in Southeast Asia, China implemented proactive fiscal policies to speed up investment in highway construction, which spurred the emergence of large-scale expressway construction. Around that time, the country implemented the strategy of developing the western regions, and enhanced the construction of railways, highways, airports and major gas pipelines there. It set the goal of "building asphalt and cement roads in rural areas to facilitate urbanization," bringing a new upsurge of rural road construction. China furthered the reform of the port management system and accelerated the construction of ports. It separated postal services and telecommunications services, and government functions and enterprise operation in postal services, promoting modern postal services integrating information flow, capital flow and logistics.

The Chinese government issued the Medium- and Long-Term Railway Network Plan, National Expressways Network Plan and related programs, while vigorously improving basic transport public service capacity, urban and rural passenger transport, urban public transport and transport safety emergency rescue. In 2008 China's Ministry of Transport (MOT) was established, and efforts were made to put all management of transport by air, water and land, as well as postal services under the ministry. The same year, the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway was opened to traffic, marking the start of China's high-speed rail era.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the construction of a modernized comprehensive transport system has been accelerated. In 2013 railway sector realized separation of government functions from commercial operations, and the institutional reform to establish an efficient government department to exercise unified management of transport by air, water and land, as well as postal services was basically completed. The transport sector has pushed reform to a higher level by enhancing law-based management, promoting comprehensive, smart, green and safe transport, and formulating development plans to serve the Three Initiatives - the Belt and Road Initiative, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt initiative. China has expedited the building of a comprehensive transport infrastructure network, and reinforced the connectivity of multiple modes of transport, advancing modern logistics in this sector and securing comprehensive transport services. It has enhanced the supply and management of basic public services for transport, supporting the development of transport infrastructure in contiguous impoverished areas, urban and rural passenger transport and urban public transport. China has also promoted balanced development of transport in its eastern, central, western and northeastern regions. In this regard, western China has quickened its pace in developing high-speed railways, and overall central and western China' s transport conditions have been greatly improved. In 2013 the Motuo Highway in Tibet was opened to traffic, indicating that every county in China now had access to highways.