The Pinglu Canal in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will officially open to navigation on September 16, local authorities said at a press conference on Monday.

The announcement marks the final step ahead of the launch of the country's first major river-to-sea canal project, which has been under construction since 2022.

Stretching 134.2 kilometers, the Pinglu Canal connects the main channel of the Xijiang River to the Beibu Gulf and is designed to accommodate vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes. It is a backbone project of China's New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and will offer southwestern China's inland regions a shorter, more cost-effective sea access route.

The canal will cut the inland waterway journey from inland southwest China to the Beibu Gulf by over 560 kilometers compared with the traditional route via Guangzhou Port. Once operational, it will serve as an important waterway linking China's inland areas with maritime shipping routes through Beibu Gulf ports to markets in ASEAN and beyond.