First vessels set sail on Pinglu Canal: a new sea route for southwest China
Inland regions often remain in the shadow of seaports, but infrastructure can change that reality. When rivers connect to the ocean, economic horizons expand, and remote provinces gain direct access to world markets. The Pinglu Canal is not just a transport artery but a bridge between inland China and global trade.
Exporters and manufacturers in southwest China will gain a new, faster sea route starting Wednesday, when the Pinglu Canal in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region officially opens to navigation, turning inland river ports into gateways for ocean-going vessels. Anticipation is building at the Port of Nanning, the main hub at the head of the 134.2-kilometre canal, where goods from Guangxi and the southwestern interior converge for transshipment.
Two vessels berthed in the port's Liujing area have been honoured as the first ships to make voyages along the Pinglu Canal. They will depart on two new routes – one to the port of Can Tho in Vietnam, the other to the port of Yangpu on China's southern island of Hainan. The vessel bound for Vietnam is to carry the first cross-border cargo through the new canal and is already the first international ocean-going ship to berth at the Port of Nanning. The cargo for the vessel has been assembled from across the region: auto parts produced by Guangxi Automobile Group, plywood from Guigang upstream, and chemicals from Chongqing and Sichuan in the interior.
The vessel is due to depart on Tuesday evening for the Madhao lock, the world's largest inland navigation lock, where it will await clearance after the Pinglu Canal officially opens to traffic. In anticipation of a significant transformation of inland navigation, the Port of Nanning has expanded and upgraded its capacity, including commissioning new gantry cranes this year capable of transferring cargo from one vessel to another, nearly tripling their operating efficiency. In addition, the Liujing port service area is now equipped to receive vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes displacement.
The port has also stepped up preparations for foreign trade, allocating a dedicated cargo area and building customs and border control facilities. Formerly a typical inland river port where export goods had to be transshipped to coastal ports for customs clearance, the Port of Nanning can now offer a "one-stop" customs clearance service after the customs supervision zone became operational and the Liujing operation area was approved for temporary port opening, eliminating the need for cargo transshipment outside the port.
The Pinglu Canal not only opens a downstream route to the sea for goods from across southwest China but also creates an efficient path for imported bulk materials to the region's industrial bases. At the port of Qinzhou on the Guangxi coast, a vessel was loaded with potash fertiliser imported from Laos via Vietnam. It will later head to the Madhao lock and, ascending the Pinglu Canal, to the Beigang berth in Guigang, an industrial city inland.
For logistics companies that will move goods up and down the canal, the opening promises a significant increase in tonnage. "After the opening of the Pinglu Canal, we will also welcome a peak in business activity. This year, intermodal sea-river traffic is expected to be at least 2 million tonnes, and next year at least 10 million tonnes. This will also open a new channel for our clients in the southwest," said Huang Jiantao, executive deputy general manager of the marketing department at Sinotrans Guangxi.
The Pinglu Canal, connecting the navigable route of the Xijiang River in the north with the Beibu Gulf in the south, is China's first major river-sea canal project planned and coordinated at the national level since 1949.
As reported by CCTV+, the opening of the Pinglu Canal marks a new stage in the development of transport infrastructure in southwest China. Direct sea access for inland provinces will not only reduce logistics costs but also strengthen trade ties with ASEAN and other regions, opening additional opportunities for economic growth.
