China opened a vital waterway on Wednesday, giving its landlocked southwestern areas a shortcut to the coast and overseas markets, as the country moves to further strengthen its trade relations with regional neighbors, particularly those in Southeast Asia. 中国星期三开通一条重要水运通道，为西南地区内陆省区通往沿海和海外市场提供了一条“捷径”。随着中国进一步加强与周边国家，尤其是东南亚国家的贸易联系，这一工程将发挥重要作用。 The Pinglu Canal, built in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region at a cost of 72.7 billion yuan ($10.8 billion), stretches for 134.2 kilometers from the Xijin reservoir in the county-level city of Hengzhou to the Qinzhou Port in the Beibu Gulf. It is the first waterway built in the country to connect a river system directly to the sea since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. 平陆运河位于广西壮族自治区，总投资727亿元人民币（约合108亿美元），全长134.2公里，北起横州市西津水库，南至北部湾钦州港。这是中华人民共和国成立（1949年）以来，中国建设的首条连接内河水系与大海的人工运河。 The canal shortens the inland waterway journeys of goods from southwestern China by more than 560 km compared with traditional routes through ports in Guangdong province. It is expected to reduce overall logistics expenses and save more than 5 billion yuan in transportation costs each year. 平陆运河使中国西南地区货物运输相比过去经广东港口出海的传统路线缩短超过560公里，预计将降低整体物流成本，每年节约运输费用超过50亿元人民币。 Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, who attended the canal's opening ceremony, called for making full use of the new waterway to develop a first-class international gateway port in the Beibu Gulf and support further opening-up of China's western region. 出席运河通航仪式的国务院副总理丁薛祥表示，要充分发挥这一新航道作用，加快建设北部湾一流国际门户港，进一步推动中国西部地区扩大开放。 Ding also called for efficient operation of the canal, which serves as key infrastructure for multimodal transportation integrating river, rail and sea, and is a backbone project of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor — a strategic route connecting China's inland areas with regional and global markets. 丁薛祥还强调，要高效运营平陆运河，使其成为连接江、铁、海多式联运体系的重要基础设施，并服务于西部陆海新通道建设。这一战略通道连接中国内陆地区与区域及全球市场，是推动内陆开放发展的重要工程。 Construction of the Pinglu Canal started in August 2022 to address a long-standing geographical problem in terms of trade. 平陆运河于2022年8月开工建设，旨在解决长期存在的贸易地理瓶颈问题。 While Guangxi boasts a coastline and borders Vietnam, its major inland rivers flow east, which means cargo moving by water from Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, and other parts of the Xijiang River basin could only reach the sea through Guangdong. 广西虽然拥有海岸线并与越南接壤，但其主要内河向东流动，这意味着来自广西首府南宁以及西江流域其他地区的水运货物过去只能经过广东港口出海。 The Pinglu Canal, designed to handle vessels of the 5,000-metric-ton class, now allows cargo to turn south and reach the Beibu Gulf — the closest maritime outlet for much of southwestern China — through the Qinzhou Port. 如今，平陆运河可通行5000吨级船舶，使货物能够向南转运，经钦州港抵达北部湾——这里是中国西南大部分地区距离最近的出海口。 One of the biggest engineering challenges during construction of the canal was navigating a difference of 65 meters in the water level between its northern end and the sea. Three navigation hubs — Madao, Qishi and Qingnian — featuring twin-line ship locks were built to raise and lower vessels, effectively acting as giant elevators. 建设过程中，最大的工程挑战之一，是需要克服运河北端与大海之间65米的水位落差。为此，工程建设了马道、企石、青年三座通航枢纽，并配备双线船闸，通过调节水位帮助船舶升降，如同巨型“电梯”。 Ni Yuping, vice-dean of Tsinghua University's School of Humanities in Beijing, placed the megaproject in a broader context, saying that one of the key questions it seeks to answer is "how western China can better integrate into the global economy". 清华大学人文学院副院长倪玉平表示，这一重大工程放在更宏观背景下，其试图回答的关键问题之一是：“中国西部如何更好融入全球经济。” Unlike the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, which primarily provide shortcuts for vessels between major seas and oceans, the Pinglu Canal gives a vast inland economic hinterland a shorter route to the coast — and from there to international markets. 与主要为连接不同海域和大洋船舶提供捷径的苏伊士运河和巴拿马运河不同，平陆运河为一个庞大的内陆经济腹地提供了更短的出海通道，并进一步连接国际市场。 Wu Tao, a history professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, noted that inland waterway shipping routes "remain irreplaceable" even though China's road, rail and air transportation networks have expanded. Their large carrying capacity and relatively low logistics costs make inland waterways particularly suited for bulk cargo, Wu said. 广州中山大学历史学教授吴滔指出，尽管中国公路、铁路和航空运输网络不断完善，但内河航运依然“不可替代”。他说，内河运输具有运量大、物流成本相对较低等优势，尤其适合大宗货物运输。 For businesses, the new canal is already dictating logistics and investment decisions. 对于企业而言，平陆运河已经开始影响物流布局和投资决策。 On Sept 8, a consignment of auto parts from Chinese vehicle manufacturer SAIC-GM-Wuling left Liuzhou for Nanning Port, before continuing by ship through the Pinglu Canal to reach Can Tho Port in Vietnam. 9月8日，中国汽车制造商上汽通用五菱的一批汽车零部件从柳州出发，运抵南宁港，随后通过平陆运河水运前往越南芹苴港。 The company said the new river-sea route could cut its logistics costs by about 10 percent. "For us, the freight saved is real profit, and that translates directly into greater price competitiveness in ASEAN and other global markets," said Cai Yan, a senior technical officer at SAIC-GM-Wuling. 该公司表示，这条江海联运新线路可帮助企业降低约10%的物流成本。上汽通用五菱高级技术主管蔡艳表示：“对我们而言，节省下来的运费就是实实在在的利润，也直接转化为我们在东盟及其他全球市场上的价格竞争力。” The canal has added waterway to the company's existing road and rail transportation options, giving it more flexibility as it expands its business and production links across Southeast Asia, Cai said. 蔡艳表示，平陆运河为公司现有公路和铁路运输方式增加了水运选择，使企业在拓展东南亚业务和生产联系过程中拥有更大的灵活性。 The new route is being factored into investment plans of companies. 这一新航线也正被纳入企业投资规划。 About 50 km from the Pinglu Canal's northern end, French chemicals producer SNF Group is building a plant in Nanning's Liujing Industrial Park, with an annual capacity of 370,000 tons. 距离平陆运河北端约50公里的南宁市六景工业园区，法国化工企业SNF集团正在建设一座年产能37万吨的工厂。 The factory, which will be the group's largest production base in southern China, is expected to start operations in stages before June 2027. 该工厂将成为该集团在中国南方最大的生产基地，预计将在2027年6月前分阶段投入运营。 "The Pinglu Canal will reduce our logistics costs and enable convenient delivery to South China and all of Southeast Asia. It offers great advantages in both materials sourcing and product distribution," said Thomas Wilsius, head of the company's Nanning project. 该公司南宁项目负责人托马斯·威尔休斯表示：“平陆运河将降低我们的物流成本，使产品能够更加便捷地运往华南地区和整个东南亚市场。无论是在原材料采购还是产品配送方面，它都具有明显优势。” The waterway is likely to bring more Southeast Asian products to the Chinese market. 这条水运通道也有望推动更多东南亚产品进入中国市场。 Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime A. FlorCruz, who visited the canal with a group of ASEAN envoys in July, said that fresh seafood and other time-sensitive products could be exported more efficiently from his country to China. 菲律宾驻华大使海梅·A·弗洛克鲁斯7月曾率东盟国家驻华使节团参访平陆运河。他表示，菲律宾的新鲜海产品以及其他对时效要求较高的产品，未来可以更加高效地出口到中国。 "In the long run, this will benefit not only the local people, but the broader region and even the world," he said, adding that shorter shipping distances, lower freight costs and faster deliveries would bring tangible benefits to fishermen, farmers, traders and entrepreneurs. 他说：“从长远来看，这不仅将惠及当地民众，也将惠及更广泛的地区乃至全世界。”他指出，更短的航程、更低的运输成本以及更快的交付速度，将为渔民、农民、贸易商和企业家带来切实收益。 For Shen Guiping, a resident of Shangjing village in Qinzhou, who took part in relocation work for the project, the ope
