A cargo vessel prepares to depart for Yangpu Port in south China's Hainan Province along the Pinglu Canal at an operation area in Nanning Port, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 16, 2026. China opened a major new canal on Wednesday, giving its landlocked southwest a shortcut to the coast and overseas markets, particularly those in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the country's largest trading partner. Built at a cost of 72.7 billion yuan (about 10.75 billion U.S. dollars), the 134.2-kilometer Pinglu Canal runs from Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to the Beibu Gulf, the closest maritime outlet for much of southwest China. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

　　NANNING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- China opened the Pinglu Canal on Wednesday, giving its landlocked southwest a shortcut to the coast and overseas markets, particularly those in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the country's largest trading partner.

　　Built at a cost of 72.7 billion yuan (about 10.75 billion U.S. dollars), the 134.2-kilometer canal runs from Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to the Beibu Gulf, the closest maritime outlet for much of southwest China.

　　The canal stretches along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a strategic trade route connecting China's inland regions with ASEAN and other global markets. It is the first river-to-sea canal project planned and coordinated at the national level since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.