Nanning, Guangxi welcomes a new blueprint for water conservancy benefiting the people. Bidding updates have been continuously sent to the billion dollar Yongbei Irrigation District, and the candidate list for the core construction section has been freshly released. Multiple large central enterprises are competing on the same stage, and the bidding results are unexpected.

The project has undergone multiple bidding changes

On June 16, 2026, the Nanning Yongbei Irrigation District project with a total investment of 13.759 billion yuan made significant progress. The Donggan Pipeline Project, with a total investment of 2.046 billion yuan, announced the winning bidder candidates on June 12, 2026, and announced the suspension of bidding on June 16 just three days later. On the same day, the bidding candidate units for the construction of the irrigation area were publicly announced, indicating that the core section of this large-scale water conservancy project is about to start construction.

The bidding result was unexpected, as China Power Construction failed to win the first place, while China Railway Construction and China Energy Engineering jointly ranked first with their low price advantage.

Project Overview

Yongbei Irrigation District is a key project in the 14th Five Year Plan for water network construction in Guangxi, with a planned irrigation area of 1.49 million acres. The project covers 19 townships in five districts and counties including Wuming, Xixiangtang, Long'an, Mashan, and Hechi Dahua in Nanning, while meeting the domestic water needs of 1.003 million people.

The candidate's construction bid for this public announcement is the core project of the entire line, with the construction scope distributed in Wuming, Mashan, and Dahua. The main construction content is divided into three parts: building a new Dahua water intake and a Dahua pump station; Constructing two ultra long water conveyance tunnels with a total length exceeding 26 kilometers; Supporting construction of branch tunnels, culverts, main and branch pipelines, and various road and river crossing projects. The estimated investment for this section is 1.968 billion yuan, with a construction period of 72 months and a planned completion date of June 2032. The construction of the section includes all supporting work such as the installation of the main building, mechanical and electrical equipment, temporary works, environmental protection and water conservation, and land reclamation.

Long term value of engineering

Three shortlisted consortia were selected for this bidding process, but unfortunately, the China Electric Power Construction Consortium did not win the first place: the consortium of China Railway 18th Bureau, China Railway 16th Bureau, and China Energy Construction Guangxi Hydropower Bureau ranked first with a bid of 1650.99 million yuan; The consortium of Water and Electricity 15th Bureau, China Railway Tunnel Bureau, and CCCC First Highway Engineering Co., Ltd. quoted 1653.23 million yuan, ranking second; The consortium of China Railway 11th Bureau, China Railway 5th Bureau, and China Railway 3rd Bureau has quoted 165.282 million yuan, ranking third.

The top ranked consortium integrates the two major engineering bureaus of China Railway Construction Corporation and local hydropower enterprises, is familiar with the water conservancy construction environment in Guangxi, has lower resource allocation costs, and forms a collaborative advantage. The technical strength of the China Electric Power Construction team is sufficient, but the quotation lacks competitiveness, and it is highly likely that the first consortium will undertake the construction of this section.

After the implementation of the entire 13.759 billion yuan irrigation area project, it will have multiple benefits, improve the irrigation conditions of 1.49 million mu of arable land, increase the grain production in the arid areas of central Guangxi, and consolidate the position of the grain production base in southern Guangxi; Stabilize the water supply for millions of people and solve the perennial water shortage problem in the Shishan area; Optimize regional water resource allocation, alleviate excessive exploitation of groundwater, and drive the development of planting and breeding industries along the route; Connect Nanning and Hechi water conservancy pipeline network, and improve the infrastructure channel connecting the capital to western Guangxi. Keywords: Nanning, Guangxi, Water Conservancy Engineering

Overall, the consortium of China Railway Construction Corporation and China Energy Engineering Corporation stood out with their pricing advantage in this core bid, leading China Power Construction Corporation. With the announcement of the candidate list completed, this large-scale water conservancy project is about to start on-site construction. After many years, the tunnel will be fully connected and the pumping station will be put into operation, and the water resource allocation system in central Guangxi will be comprehensively upgraded.Editor/Gong Ziwei