China walkthrough: A young Malaysian on China-ASEAN connectivity

The Pinglu Canal – the first canal project of its kind in China to be planned and coordinated at the national level, connecting rivers to the sea – officially opened to navigation on September 16. It creates the shortest, most economical and most convenient waterway from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regionand southwest China to ASEAN countries. On September 17, the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo opened in Nanning, and a waterway linking rivers to the sea and an open platform for expanding trade and economic cooperation converged in Guangxi.

In this episode of China walkthrough, Tang Yan Joo, a young Malaysian who studied at Tsinghua University, shares her reflections on the Pinglu Canal's opening and the China-ASEAN Expo. She explains how the canal shortens the sea route for southwest China, lowers logistics costs and brings new opportunities for Malaysian industries such as palm oil, bird's nests and durian. She also captures the "two-way journey" she has witnessed between Qinzhou in China and Kuantan in Malaysia – Kuantan Avenue, Qinzhou Road and youth basketball friendship matches. These details convince her that while economic cooperation begins with ports and industrial parks, what truly makes it flourish is connections between people.