Photo: VCG

China’s Pinglu Canal, a key project on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, achieved full water filling on Wednesday as the Ma’dao and Qishi navigation hubs has begun to be filled with water, according to CCTV News. 

The canal has entered the water-testing phase on Wednesday, with full navigation scheduled for September this year, according to the report.

Initiated in August 2022 and started operation by the end of 2026, the Pinglu Canal is a flagship project on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, an important trade and logistics passage jointly built by provincial-level regions in western China and ASEAN members. The 134.2-km-long waterway stretches from the Xijin reservoir in the city of Hengzhou to Qinzhou port in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

By establishing a convenient and cost-effective passage to ASEAN member states, the Pinglu Canal has garnered widespread acclaim as a positive advancement that will enhance maritime connectivity with the bloc, Xinhua reported.

The achievement represents a major breakthrough for the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, creating a direct maritime outlet for southwest China by linking the Xijiang River trunk line to the Beibu Gulf. Once fully operational, cargo vessels from Guangxi and the broader southwest region will save more than 560 kilometers on their journey to the sea, slashing transport time, costs, and fuel consumption.

As the first canal built in China to connect a river system directly to the sea, the Pinglu Canal is being hailed as a landmark infrastructure project that will link the Xijiang River system with the Beibu Gulf, improving access for cargo ships from southwest China to international shipping routes.

Stretching 134.2 kilometers, the canal begins at Pingtang River in Hengzhou, Nanning, and runs through Qinzhou before reaching the Beibu Gulf. By creating a direct waterway between inland southwest China and the sea, the project is expected to significantly reduce transport distance, time and costs for regional trade, according to CCTV News.

The canal must overcome a 65-meter elevation difference along its route. To do so, engineers built three major stepped navigation hubs — Ma’dao, Qishi and Qingnian — which function like “water elevators,” lifting and lowering vessels through the canal system, said the report.

Among them, the Ma’dao hub has set two world records. It is now the world’s largest water-saving ship lock in terms of water-level difference, with a maximum upstream-downstream drop of 29.6 meters, roughly equivalent to a 10-story building. It is also the world’s largest inland water-saving ship lock, with a lock chamber measuring 300 meters long and 34 meters wide. Each chamber is large enough to accommodate multiple large vessels, and the two locks together can handle 12 ships of 5,000-ton class at the same time.

The Madao and Qishi hubs together have set another world benchmark for the fastest valve operation in water-saving locks. Each working valve in the water conveyance galleries weighs 70 tons, yet can open in just one minute and close in 30 seconds.

Beyond global records, the Pinglu Canal has achieved two "national firsts." It is the highest-grade navigable canal in China, designed to handle 5,000-ton-class vessels directly. It is also the largest earth and rockwork project in the country's transportation history, requiring the excavation of approximately 315 million cubic meters of material — roughly three times the volume of the Three Gorges Project.

To support the immense hydraulic pressure, the Madao hub rests on 1,302 reinforced concrete columns, while the Qishi hub is anchored by 1,152 such columns — each capable of bearing the load of tens of thousands of tons of water.

Global Times