Nanjing is one of the three major cities of the Yangtze River Delta, the heart of metropolitan area of Nanjing, and the only provincial capital city and the only city with cross-river development in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, thus it has obvious geographical advantages in transportation. Nanjing Lukou International Airport is one of the key air hubs in China, the major cargo airport and the distribution center of air cargo and express mails in East China. Up to now, it has opened international passenger and freight routes to more than 70 cities, including Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Chicago, Moscow, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Seoul, as well as Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and so on.

As one of the first river ports with the capacity of 100-million-ton vessels and the terminal of waterway for ships of 10-thousand-ton in the Yangtze River, Nanjing Port has 42 10-thousand-ton berths and is connected to 160 ports in 80 countries (or regions). Nanjing Railway Station is the key railway hub in East China developed by the Ministry of Railways in the "Eleventh Five-Year-Plan" period, with international trains to Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and North Korea. When completed in 2010, Nanjing South Railway Station will bring together the Beijing-Shanghai, Shanghai-Nanjing and other passenger lines, and will be the largest transport hub in Asia. As one of the State-level highway arteries, Nanjing is at the intersection of 4 national highways, 8 provincial roads and many expressways that lead to Shanghai, Hangzhou and so on. The four Yangtze River Bridges (one under construction) and the Weiqilu Tunnel across the river greatly contribute to the economic and cultural exchanges between the southern and northern regions of the Yangtze River.