On June 3, 2026, Chen Gang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, rushed to Qinzhou to preside over a 100 day on-site deployment meeting for the Pinglu Canal navigation countdown. The Chairman of the Autonomous Region, Wei Tao, attended the meeting and arranged relevant work. The Party Committee and Government of Guangxi Autonomous Region have confirmed that the Pinglu Canal will be officially completed and open for navigation in September 2026. Chen Gang proposed in the meeting that all personnel involved in the project construction should fully enter the three working states of preparation, tackling difficulties, and sprinting, and concentrate their efforts to successfully complete the task of the first hundred days of canal navigation.

Chen Gang emphasized the strict adherence to integrity standards in project construction and the elimination of various corruption issues; Regarding the supporting guarantee and industrial development after the canal is put into use, it is required to avoid blind construction and eliminate engineering projects that are detached from reality and leave a burden on development.

The project is completed and the entire line is connected to water

The Pinglu Canal is the first large-scale canal project in New China to connect rivers to the ocean. The total investment of the project exceeds 70 billion yuan, and the total length of the route is 134.2 kilometers. The starting point of the northern section is located at the mouth of Pingtang River in Hengzhou City, Nanning, passing through Luwu Town, Lingshan County, Qinzhou, and finally flowing into the Beibu Gulf sea area along the Qinjiang River. The project started construction on August 28, 2022, and the construction progress is steadily progressing. The main construction of the canal will be completed by May 2026.

The hub project is a key control link in the construction of the entire canal, with the construction of three large hubs in Qishi, Madao, and Qingnian supporting the canal. In May 2026, the Youth Hub will complete the water supply operation and start water commissioning; On June 3, 2026, the two major hubs of Madao and Qishi simultaneously carried out water injection operations, marking the smooth completion of the entire canal. At present, the overall construction progress of the project has exceeded 96%, entering a critical period of completion and commissioning. Local media revealed that the construction management team plans to complete the water injection and commissioning work for three hubs in over two months, and organize a full line ship navigation test in August 2026.

On the morning of June 3, 2026, Chen Gang and Wei Tao went to the Madao Hub and Qinzhou Water Comprehensive Service Area on site to inspect the project construction, cofferdam demolition and water injection, ship lock component assembly and commissioning, and other operations. They also took a boat to inspect the implementation of the Qinzhou urban waterway and coastal supporting infrastructure.

Western Land Sea New Channel Backbone Project

In 2019, the Western Land Sea New Corridor was upgraded to a national level development plan, with Chongqing as the operational core and various provinces and cities in western China as key nodes. It relies on various forms of transportation such as railways, sea transportation, and highways, and connects to various parts of the world through Guangxi and Yunnan border coastal ports to the south.

The western region holds a crucial position in China's overall development layout. Accelerating the construction of the new land sea corridor in the western region can enhance the level of opening up to the outside world, optimize the domestic regional economic layout, and have profound strategic value. The Pinglu Canal, which is about to be put into operation, is a key infrastructure for revitalizing the western inland sea. Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing and Xizang lack sea ports. Guangxi is located in the coastal and border areas, but it has long been trapped in the development gap that rivers cannot directly connect to the sea.

Open up channels to empower the western region

Opening up offshore channels has been a long-standing development aspiration of the people of Guangxi throughout history. Wei Tao stated at a press conference in April 2026 that from Beihai being selected as one of the first coastal open cities in China during the early stages of reform and opening up, to Qinzhou residents raising funds to build a port in the 1990s, Guangxi's development towards the sea has never stopped.

After the completion of the Pinglu Canal, it will open up a water transportation route from Xijiang to Beibu Gulf, becoming the shortest and most efficient waterway connecting Guangxi and the southwestern and central southern regions to ASEAN. From an economic perspective, canal navigation can significantly reduce the time it takes for goods from the southwest to go abroad and effectively reduce logistics expenses. The canal can accommodate 5000 ton river sea direct ships, shortening the voyage by 560 kilometers compared to the original sea route. It is estimated to save 5.2 billion yuan in logistics expenses annually, while also driving industries such as port manufacturing, cold chain logistics, and cross-border e-commerce to settle and gather along the canal.

At the promotion meeting, Chen Gang stated that the Pinglu Canal is a milestone project that changes the economic layout of Guangxi. The project's navigation has milestone significance in various aspects such as the history of domestic canal construction, the improvement of western development, deepening China ASEAN cooperation, and assisting Guangxi's opening up to the sea. He proposed to rely on the opportunity of canal navigation, improve the layout of coastal economy, build a modern coastal infrastructure system, create a layered coastal industrial pattern with the canal economic belt as the backbone, and promote the high-quality construction of Guangxi's coastal economy. Keywords:Overseas dry port news,Dry port international logistics network,Overseas dry port industrial park information

It is not difficult to foresee that the canal navigation will not only reshape the shipping and industrial pattern in Guangxi, but also serve as a link to deepen economic and trade exchanges between the western inland and ASEAN. Now the hundred day countdown has officially begun, and this milestone canal is steadily transforming from a blueprint to a reality.Editor/Gong Ziwei