China's major river-to-sea canal to open to navigation

NANNING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Pinglu Canal in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will become operational on Sept. 16, according to a Monday press conference on the canal's opening.

An aerial drone photo taken on June 3, 2026 shows water being pumped into the Madao hub on the Pinglu Canal in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo: Xinhua)

The 134.2-km canal links the Xijiang River shipping route in the north with the Beibu Gulf in the south. It is China's first major river-to-sea canal project that has been planned and coordinated at the national level since 1949.

Designed to accommodate vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes, the canal stretches along the country's New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a strategic route linking China's inland regions with ASEAN and other global markets.

It is expected to shorten the shipping distance between China's southwestern hinterland and ASEAN by 560 km and reduce logistics costs by 18 to 30 percent, said Lu Xinning, vice chairperson of the regional government, in another press conference held in early September.

"The canal not only overcomes Guangxi's longstanding constraints on river-to-sea connectivity, but will also reshape the economic geography between China and ASEAN," said Lu.

Trade between the two sides has seen robust growth in recent years. Data from General Administration of Customs show that bilateral trade between China and ASEAN reached 4.34 trillion yuan (about 640 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2026, up 18.2 percent year on year.

The Beibu Gulf Port, a key hub at the southern end of the canal, has become an important gateway for China's opening up to ASEAN. Its container throughput increased from 2.28 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2017 to 10.06 million TEUs in 2025, and the port has established a comprehensive shipping network that covers major ports across ASEAN.