Pinglu Canal a historic breakthrough and economic asset

NANNING, China and QINZHOU, China, Sept. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from chinadaily.com.cn:

The Pinglu Canal in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region officially opens to traffic on Sept 16, reshaping the transport and logistics landscape of southwestern China. It is China's first major river-to-sea canal project to be planned and coordinated at a national level since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

As a key part of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor that connects China's western regions to overseas markets, the canal is vital for establishing an integrated transport system that features "river-sea connectivity and multimodal freight", providing Guangxi and the broader southwestern region with the most convenient and cost-effective route to the sea.

Compared with the conventional waterway to Guangzhou Port in neighboring Guangdong province for export, the new shipping route via the canal enables goods from the southwestern region to reduce their river journey by more than 560 kilometers for maritime access, saving a projected 5.2 billion yuan ($771.36 million) in freight costs annually, industry insiders said.

The Pinglu Canal starts at the Pingtang River Estuary, which is located in the Xijin Reservoir area of Hengzhou, a city under the administration of Nanning, capital of Guangxi, extending southward to Qinzhou Port in the Beibu Gulf.

Spanning 134.2 km, the canal, which is designed to handle vessels of up to 5,000 metric tons, has a total elevation difference of 65 meters.

To ensure navigation safety and efficiency, the canal comprises three cascade hubs of Madao, Qishi and Qingnian, equipped with ship locks that work like water elevators, moving vessels up and down.

Among them, the Madao Hub features the world's largest water-saving ship lock for an inland waterway, according to Pinglu Canal Group.

A single chamber, 300 meters long and 34 meters wide, is equivalent to 1.5 standard football fields. Both ship locks working together can accommodate the passage of 12 vessels of 5,000 tons each.

To address a maximum water-level drop of 29.6 meters, almost as high as a 10-story building, the hub adopts a pioneering three-tier composite water-saving ship lock system, which consists of dual lock chambers, each equipped with three stacked water-saving basins and a sophisticated water transfer network that compares to underground arteries.

When vessels move downstream, part of the water in the lock chamber will be diverted to the water-saving basins to lower the water level. During upstream travel, the stored water flows back into the lock chamber, enabling the recycling of water, said Pan Jian, chief engineer of Guangxi Pinglu Canal Construction, a subsidiary of the group.

The innovative ship lock design enables a reduction of more than 60 percent in water consumption for operation, he added.

The next navigation hub, Qishi, uses the same ship lock operation mechanism, so it has also achieved a reduction of more than 60 percent in water use. The Qingnian Hub, the closest to the estuary, features the largest interconnected water-saving ship lock system in the country. The dual lock chambers aid mutual water transfer and recycling, achieving a water-saving rate of approximately 50 percent.

The three hubs can save more than 1 billion cubic meters of water, equivalent to the volume of 70 West Lakes, Chinese news agencies reported.

To ensure efficient and safe running, the canal has created the world's fastest valve operation in water-saving locks. Each working valve in the water transfer network weighs 70 tons, yet can open in one minute and close in 30 seconds, setting a record with a gate-closing speed of up to 16 meters per minute, two to four times faster than others of its kind internationally.

Pan said his team had conducted research on overseas canals and cooperated with industry-leading researchers and builders. "There were no existing standards to follow, so we built on our own strengths to explore and innovate," Pan said.

Focused on construction challenges involving hubs, waterways and bridges, they conducted more than 40 major research projects. They tackled key technical difficulties in such areas as high-efficiency water-saving ship locks, long-life concrete, large-scale comprehensive utilization of earth and rock materials, and high-slope stability control.

Their efforts have resulted in more than 90 patents. Several design and technical standards have achieved industry-leading levels.

Meanwhile, digital technologies are used throughout the entire process of the canal's construction, operation and maintenance to prevent risks and enable real-time responses, said technical staff members at a command and coordination center in the Qingnian Hub's management area. Most of them are fresh college graduates.

The Qingnian Hub, or Youth Hub, was named after a nearby sluice, which was built in 1959 and 1960 for irrigation as well as flood prevention. More than 7,000 young people completed the project under harsh conditions, using shoulder poles and carrying loads on their backs.

After operating for decades, the old Youth Ship Lock was removed in 2024 to make room for the canal. One of the three major navigation hubs is located just 1.5 km away from the old site. The Qingnian Hub retains the name, which represents the youths' pursuit of self-reliance and resilience in overcoming challenges.

"After learning the origin of the Youth Hub, I'm touched by that generation's dedication and perseverance, and feel pride in joining in the megaproject," said a staff member of the center. "Their story inspires me to contribute my strength to the local community's development."

In addition to innovative designs and engineering feats, ecological preservation has been highly valued throughout the canal construction and operation. Its environmental practices include providing a passage for migratory fish and building bridges dedicated to native animals. The mountain area where they live is now divided by the canal.

To preserve the local mangrove ecosystem, measures were taken such as in situ conservation, relocating 9,572 mangroves and planting 275,000 new ones.

About a century ago, revered revolutionary forerunner Sun Yat-sen envisioned a river-sea canal in Guangxi. Now the century-old dream has come true.

It is far more than a mere waterway; it is being followed by bustling trade, investment, industries and supply chains, giving fresh impetus to the local economy's growth, local officials said.

SOURCE chinadaily.com.cn