The Pinglu Canal, a key infrastructure project under China's Western Land-Sea Corridor, officially opened to navigation on Monday. The 134.2-kilometer waterway connects the Xijiang River shipping artery with the Beibu Gulf, creating the shortest water transport route between China's southwestern hinterland and the ASEAN market. As the first river-to-sea canal in China's history to be planned and constructed at the national level, it runs from the Pingtang River estuary in Hengzhou, Nanning, through Lushu town in Lingshan County, Qinzhou, and follows the Qin River into the Beibu Gulf, transforming the region's outbound shipping route from a circuitous path into a direct passage. What began over a century ago as a vision in Dr. Sun Yat-sen's "The International Development of China" has now become reality, reshaping the geographic logic of western China's access to the sea while establishing an efficient and cost-effective economic corridor between China and ASEAN. On its inaugural day, the canal carried its first shipment of Liuzhou Motor products as part of the maiden voyage.
The completion of the canal's river-sea intermodal transport shortens the outbound shipping distance for goods from the southwest by more than 560 kilometers. This directly strengthens the overall competitiveness of export operations, according to Xie Jiasheng, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor Co.'s import and export division. The company plans to integrate the Pinglu Canal into its permanent export logistics system, enabling more "Guangxi-made" products to reach global markets. Yang Fanglai, chairman of Huaihua International Land Port Development Co., noted that bulk cargo logistics costs are expected to drop by 18% to 30% following the canal's opening, while container transportation expenses could fall by 18% to 22%. For the Huaihua land port, the canal represents a major opportunity for cost reduction and efficiency gains, as well as a critical moment to reshape its logistics framework.
The canal is now linking a growing network of regions and markets. Provinces and municipalities including Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou have connected to the waterway through rail-water intermodal transport, with multiple direct train-boat services to ASEAN nations already launched. The China-Laos Railway is also coordinating with the canal, giving landlocked countries like Laos a pathway toward the sea. Diplomats from several ASEAN member states have recently conducted tours of the canal, expressing enthusiasm for expanding bilateral trade. The project is also generating a magnetic pull for investment. France's SNF Group is developing a paper chemical facility at the Liujing Industrial Park in Nanning, roughly 50 kilometers from the canal's starting point, which is expected to become the company's largest production base in southern China. The group has also designated Nanning as its supply chain hub for the ASEAN market. To date, nearly 200 leading enterprises have established operations in Guangxi to tap into ASEAN opportunities. Guangxi is now advancing a high-standard economic belt along the Pinglu Canal, featuring a "leaf-vein" industrial layout oriented toward the sea. This includes developing cross-regional, cross-border industrial and supply chains with ASEAN in sectors such as nonferrous metals and advanced metal materials, modern green chemicals, artificial intelligence and next-generation information technology, and new energy vehicles and batteries.
With the canal in operation, prosperity is expected to follow. As China's first smart canal designed for full-lifecycle management, the Pinglu Canal also opens new avenues for collaboration between China and ASEAN in emerging fields like the digital economy and green, intelligent shipping. This "water highway" is emerging as a fresh bond for mutually beneficial cooperation between China and ASEAN.
Source: China News Service
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