China's 134.2-kilometer-long Pinglu Canal officially opened to navigation in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday, offering a more direct water route from southwest China to the Beibu Gulf. Designed for vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes, the canal is expected to shorten inland shipping journeys to the sea by more than 560 kilometers and reduce logistics costs by upto 30%. Thirty cargo ships used the canal on its opening day, as new freight routes linking Nanning with Vietnam's Can Tho and Yangpu in China's Hainan began operating.