OMM Redaksiyası
China has officially put the $10.75 billion Pinglu Canal into operation, providing the country’s southwestern regions with direct access to the sea.
The 134.2-kilometer canal links Nanning, the capital of southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with the Beibu Gulf. The gulf is the closest maritime outlet for much of southwestern China.
The Pinglu Canal is the first nationally planned and coordinated river-sea canal project since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Construction began in August 2022 and continued for four years.
The canal can accommodate vessels carrying up to 5,000 tons of cargo. Compared with the previous route via Guangzhou, the new waterway cuts more than 560 kilometers from the inland waterway distance between southwestern China and the coast.
The project is expected to reduce transportation costs by 18-30% and save the shipping sector more than $745.5 million annually.
The canal begins in the Pingtangjiangkou area of Hengzhou in Nanning, passes through the Luwu area of Qinzhou and then reaches the Beibu Gulf along the Qinjiang River. It was built in accordance with China’s Class I inland waterway standards.
On its first day of operation, 30 vessels carrying thousands of tons of cargo, including construction materials, steel, coal, ore and fertilizer, passed through the canal. Operations were handled by the ports of Qinzhou and Nanning.
Authorities also plan to establish four new passenger routes along the canal. One of these routes is already operating.
Environmental protection measures were incorporated into the project. Two dedicated crossings were built in the Madao area to allow wild animals to cross the waterway. They have been described as the first purpose-built wildlife crossings of this scale in China.
Chinese specialists also built a 480-meter fish passage in the Qinyan area to restore a migration route in the Qinjiang River that had been blocked by dams for more than 60 years.
The Pinglu Canal forms part of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, which Beijing has been developing for years. The network combines rail, road and maritime transport to establish more direct links between China’s inland provinces and Southeast Asia while reducing reliance on the country’s eastern ports.
The canal’s opening comes as Nanning prepares to host the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo from Sept. 17 to 21. ASEAN is already China’s largest trading partner as a bloc. Bilateral trade between the sides rose by about 20% year on year in the first seven months of 2026.
