1462 days and nights! The Pinglu Canal passes completion acceptance.

On August 28, on the fourth anniversary of the commencement of construction of the Pinglu Canal, the project passed completion acceptance, laying a solid foundation for its opening to navigation in September.

Over the past four years, the project has consistently adhered to high standards and high-quality construction, striving to create a premium project, a green project, and a clean project. Four years ago today, the Pinglu Canal officially broke ground in Guangxi. Over the 134.2-kilometer-long waterway, builders have spent 1,462 days and nights overcoming challenges, gradually transforming the grand blueprint into reality. Four years later today, the overall progress of the Pinglu Canal project exceeds 98%, the joint commissioning tasks of the three major hubs have been fully completed, all real-ship trials before navigation have been finalized, and the Pinglu Canal is about to transition from construction to a new milestone of navigation and operation.

Guangxi aims to achieve the goal of completing navigation by September, realizing "water in the river, ships on the water, goods in the ships, and goods reaching all directions," while coordinating the dual efforts of project construction and operational management.

It is reported that a total of 313 million cubic meters of earth and stone have been excavated for the Pinglu Canal, all 27 main bridge projects crossing the canal have been completed, the joint water testing at Madao, Qishi, and Qingnian hubs has been fully concluded, the channel and hub projects have passed completion acceptance, and supporting projects such as navigation marks, water service areas, and intelligent operation systems are basically completed, with final touch-up work underway. The construction of Maowei Sea No. 1 anchorage has been fully accelerated.

Meanwhile, the Pinglu Canal management organization and operation team are functioning on a regular basis, the "Regulations on the Protection and Management of Pinglu Canal in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region" continue to be publicized and implemented, the "Integrated Dispatching Rules for Water Transport in Guangxi Rivers and Seas," ship lock passage fee standards, and navigation safety management regulations have been released and implemented, key systems such as emergency response plans for shipping incidents are being accelerated, the intelligent maintenance system is in trial operation, the Guangxi integrated intelligent dispatching platform for water transport in rivers and seas has been fully launched for trial operation, and the smart logistics information platform integrating the "river, sea, rail, road, air, and postal" networks is being rapidly advanced.

It is worth noting that the "Pinglu Canal 2026–2027 Annual Navigation Water Supply Guarantee Plan" has been issued and implemented, addressing the canal's navigation water needs for 2026–2027 and fully ensuring "water in the canal." Over 2,000 inland vessels adapted for navigating the Pinglu Canal to Qinzhou Bay are available in the region; approximately 3,000 coastal ships nationwide under 2,000 tons meet the canal's navigation conditions, with transport capacity matching demand, fully ensuring "boats on the water." The logistics subsidy policy for the Western Land-Sea New Corridor is being revised, incorporating direct river-sea routes, river-rail-sea intermodal trains, and other support measures, effectively stabilizing the shipping market and fully ensuring "cargo on the boats." The renovation of river-sea intermodal berths on both the river and sea sides has been preliminarily completed, with intermodal capacity exceeding 16 million tons, meeting the immediate navigation needs. Efforts are simultaneously accelerating to build a Guangxi water transport intermodal system centered on the Pinglu Canal, extending the cargo source hinterland of the canal, and ensuring "cargo flows everywhere."

In September, the Pinglu Canal will usher in a historic moment of completion and opening for navigation—5,000-ton ships will set sail from Nanning, travel along the Pinglu Canal, and head straight to the Beibu Gulf, striving for maritime strength.