https://en.people.cn/n3/2026/0604/c90000-20463803.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinglu_Canal

The 134.2-kilometer waterway has now achieved full-channel connectivity and entered the final phase ahead of its expected inauguration in September. It represents China’s latest attempt to reshape the economic landscape of its vast interior.

Stretching from the Pingtang River in Hengzhou City, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea, the Pinglu Canal is the backbone of the country’s New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a key initiative enhancing global trade connectivity for China’s western inland regions. Once operational, it will provide China’s southwestern provinces with their first direct river-to-sea shipping route, bypassing a lengthy detour through the Pearl River system.

Freight traveling from the southwest to overseas markets through the canal will shorten inland waterway journeys by roughly 560 kilometers compared with traditional routes, reducing transportation costs and transit times. Capable of accommodating 5,000-tonne vessels, it boasts the highest navigation standard in China.

The scale of the project is remarkable. With total investment exceeding 70 billion yuan (about 10.27 billion U.S. dollars), the canal is the first major river-to-sea canal project planned and coordinated at the national level since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

The Pinglu Canal will complete a missing link in southwestern China’s water transport system between China and ASEAN.