PR98569

NANNING, China, Nov. 1, 2022 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

In the first three quarters of this year, total trade between China and ASEAN

has reached RMB 4.7 trillion, an increase of 15.2%, accounting for 15.1% of

China's total foreign trade. Among which, export to ASEAN has climbed 22% to

RMB 2.73 trillion, an import from ASEAN is RMB 1.97 trillion, a rise of 6.9%.

Obviously, China and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners.

With the entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

(RCEP), trade and investment cooperation between China and ASEAN are ushering

in an ever-increasing number of opportunities. There is no doubt that total

trade between China and ASEAN will continue to expand rapidly in the future.

Moreover, China is devoting unprecedented efforts to prepare for this

development by constructing a canal, the Pinglu Canal, in the Guangxi Zhuang

Autonomous Region neighboring the ASEAN bloc, with the intention to expedite

the transportation of goods between China and ASEAN.

The construction of the Pinglu Canal, planned with a total length of about 135

kilometers and anticipated to cost an estimated total investment exceeding RMB

72 billion, has already commenced in August this year. It is scheduled to open

to navigation in four years and is designed to handle 5,000-ton ships. The

Pinglu Canal starts from county-level Hengzhou City of Nanning City, and enters

Beibu Gulf via Qinjiang River in Lingshan County of Qinzhou City, according to

Pinglu Canal Group Co., Ltd.

According to Wu Peng, an expert in the planning and design of the Pinglu Canal

project, "The Pinglu Canal will be a pioneering feat in the history of canal

construction in China, as it is the largest canal of its kind. Inland ships can

sail directly to seaport. Upon completion, it will become a very busy canal

noted for a large volume of freights, large-tonnage ships and a large number of

vessels."

In the past, for goods from southwest China to go to the sea by waterway,

options were either via the Yangtze River or the Xijiang River, but a river

running southward to the sea was nonexistent. The estuary of Yangtze River is

in eastern China, more than 2,000 kilometers away from the southwestern

municipality of Chongqing, while the estuary of the Xijiang River is in

Guangzhou in southeastern China. These two conduits of gaining access to the

sea are both extremely time-consuming.

"The Pinglu Canal will open up a new channel for the main stream of the Xijiang

River to enter the sea in the shortest distance. Through the Pinglu Canal, the

inland river voyage of goods going from the southwestern region to the sea will

be shortened by more than 560 kilometers compared with that through Guangzhou."

Chen Hongqi, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Transportation Department of

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that when the canal is completed, the

southwestern and northwestern regions of China will be bolstered by the

shortest, most economical and most convenient passage to the sea.

According to analysis from industry insiders, the Pinglu Canal will open up a

new sea-entry avenue of the Xijiang Golden Waterway, forming a river-sea

circulation waterway channel that will effectively connect with the development

of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, promote the continuous

deepening of Guangxi's and southwestern China's economic and trade cooperation

with ASEAN and RCEP countries, and better integrate Guangxi and the

southwestern region of China into the building of a China-ASEAN community of

common destiny.

When the project is completed, the new canal will not only facilitate

China-ASEAN trade, but will also bring forth tremendous opportunities for

Guangxi, where the canal is located. At present, locations everywhere along the

canal have begun to deploy more production factors and near-port industries

around the project and in coastal ports. After the canal becomes navigable,

these supporting industries along the route will form a huge competitive

advantage.

As the starting point of the Pinglu Canal, Nanning, the capital of Guangxi

Zhuang autonomous region, is planning the construction of the Nanning East New

Town, taking the initiative to integrate into the Pinglu Canal economic belt,

cultivating advantageous near-port industrial clusters, and vigorously

establishing a new energy vehicle and spare parts manufacturing base to serve

the ASEAN market, with the vision to develop the Nanning East New Town into a

"model industry park for seaward economic development".

"Upon completion, the canal will bring forth immense opportunities to Guangxi,

and foster the formation of an all-round opening-up structure characterized by

interconnectivity both at home and abroad, linkage between land and sea, and

complementariness between east and west. The project will profoundly change the

industrial layout, economic and social development structure of Guangxi, and

propel Guangxi to accelerate its transformation into a Beibu Gulf international

gateway port and international hub seaport," said Ouyang Bin, a member of the

CPC Committee of the Transportation Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous

Region.

Source: Pinglu Canal Group Co., Ltd.