China is opening the 134km Pinglu Canal for navigation on Wednesday, September 16, in Guangxi, linking the Xijiang River with the Beibu Gulf and creating a shorter sea route from southwest China to Southeast Asia.
The canal is designed to cut shipping distances by about 560km and reduce logistics costs by 18 to 30 percent, according to Guangxi authorities. It can carry vessels with a capacity of up to 5,000 tonnes.
A shorter route for China’s southwest
Pinglu gives inland areas including Yunnan and Guizhou a direct waterway toward the Beibu Gulf. The wider trade corridor also connects Chongqing, Chengdu and other southwestern industrial areas with the gulf’s ports and overseas markets.
River vessels will be able to sail directly to berths at Qinzhou seaport without transferring cargo to other ships. Direct commercial sailings to Can Tho in southern Vietnam are scheduled to begin after the canal opens.
Key points
- The canal is entirely within Guangxi, which borders Vietnam and faces the South China Sea.
- It forms part of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and is connected to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
- Its estimated construction cost is 72.7 billion yuan, or about $10.8bn.
- Authorities estimate annual transport-cost savings of more than 5 billion yuan, or about $700m.
Trade links and planned industrial growth
China’s General Administration of Customs recorded bilateral trade with Southeast Asia of about 4.34 trillion yuan, or roughly $640bn, in the first half of 2026, up 18.2 percent from a year earlier. Beibu Gulf Port’s container-handling capacity increased from 2.28 million TEUs in 2017 to 10.06 million TEUs in 2025, while its shipping network expanded across major Southeast Asian ports. Read the context: What China’s new Ice Silk Road means for trade and Arctic power.
Guangxi is developing a “Pinglu Canal Economic Belt” around the waterway. Targeted industries include non-ferrous metals and critical minerals, green chemicals, artificial intelligence and information technology, with industrial zones planned near ports and transport networks.
The people relocated for the project
Official figures say 2,764 households, representing 11,228 people across four counties and county-level cities in Guangxi, were resettled. In Hengzhou, agreements covered 368 homes, with 1,221 people temporarily relocated after buildings covering 84,200 square metres were demolished. Related coverage: Flooding from Typhoon Narra forces evacuations across Guangxi.
Authorities designed 21 housing models to reflect residents’ customs, including space for crop drying, poultry and agricultural-chemical storage. The resettlement process took 39 days and was linked to construction jobs and vocational training, although residents also described a sense of loss after leaving established villages.
What happens next
Commercial vessels will pass through the canal’s three water gates free of charge until December 31, 2026. From January 1, 2027, the trial fee will be one yuan, about $0.14, per tonne of vessel capacity for each passage, and is scheduled to remain in effect until September 2031.
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