China has officially opened the Pinglu Canal, a $10.75 billion waterway giving the country's landlocked southwest a shorter, direct route to the sea and Southeast Asian markets.
The 134.2-kilometre canal connects Nanning, capital of southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with the Beibu Gulf, the nearest maritime outlet for much of southwestern China.
It is the first river-to-sea canal project to be planned and coordinated at national level since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Construction took four years after work began in August 2022.
The canal can handle vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes and cuts more than 560 kilometres off the inland waterway journey between southwest China and the coast, compared with the previous route through Guangzhou.
The benefits go beyond shorter journeys. The canal is expected to reduce transport costs by 18 to 30 per cent, generating annual savings of more than $745.5 million for the shipping sector.
The canal runs from Pingtangjiangkou in Hengzhou, Nanning, through Luwu in Qinzhou before following the Qinjiang River into the Beibu Gulf. It was built to China's Class I inland waterway standard.
On the inaugural day, 30 ships carrying thousands of tonnes of cargo, including construction materials, steel, coal, minerals and fertilisers, sailed through the canal, with ports in Qinzhou and Nanning managing operations.
Officials have also planned four new passenger routes along the canal, one of which is already operating.
The project is not solely about moving cargo faster. Environmental measures were incorporated into the original design, including two wildlife crossings at Madao, described as China's first dedicated animal crossings over a waterway of this scale.
A 480-metre fishway at Qingnian has also reopened a migration route on the Qinjiang River that had been blocked by dams for more than 60 years.
Strategically, the canal forms part of a much larger infrastructure network Beijing has been developing for years: the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
The combined rail, road and sea network is intended to connect China's inland provinces more directly with Southeast Asia, reducing reliance on routes through the country's eastern ports.
The opening comes as Nanning prepares to host the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo from 17 to 21 September, underlining the growing importance of Southeast Asia to China's trade strategy.
ASEAN is already China's largest trading partner as a bloc, with two-way trade rising by roughly 20 per cent year on year during the first seven months of 2026. The new canal is designed to support further growth in that trade.
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