China has formally opened a new 134.2-kilometre canal, state-run news outlet People's Daily has reported.
The Pinglu Canal is China's first major canal constructed since 1949 to directly connect inland waterways to the sea. The government said this waterway offers southwest China its shortest, most cost-effective, and most convenient outlet to the sea.
The canal starts at the Ping River estuary in Hengzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and ends at the Beibu Gulf.
The Xijiang River, a major inland waterway in southern China, and the Beibu Gulf, an inlet of the South China Sea, were once separated by rolling mountain ranges. In the past, exports shipped by water from southwest China had to take a detour via Guangzhou Port in Guangdong province, adding more than 500 kilometres to the journey.
"In the past, imported raw materials had to be transported from Qinzhou Port in the Beibu Gulf using both rail and road," Su Yonghui, head of the logistics management department of aluminium producer Geely Material, said. "Shipment volumes were limited, and freight costs were high. Now, with waterway transport, our overall logistics costs have fallen by 30 per cent, saving us more than CNY10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) a year."
The river-to-sea canal construction project was undertaken over the course of four years by the Chinese Government at a cost equivalent to US$10.3 billion.
The organisers of the project expect that use of the canal would help reduce annual transportation costs by as much as US$735 million while facilitating increased trade with Southeast Asia.
The construction of the canal also entailed the removal of 315 million cubic metres of material and installation of three hubs with locking stations to address an elevation difference of 65 metres between the river estuary and sea level. The locks feature advanced mechanisms to enable opening to be completed within one minute and closing within 30 seconds.
