China’s new Pinglu Canal entered its final six months of construction and testing, preparatory to its opening in September, a remarkable engineering feat that will transform Southwest China. The March 18 Global Times, in an article, “New Canal Illustrates China’s Efforts to Boost Trade Amid Global Uncertainty,” reported that the canal entered its “equipment commissioning stage,” whereby the installation of the machinery and the systems is tested and verified.
The 134-kilometer (83-mile) canal starts in Guangxi (in southwestern China, near China’s border with Vietnam) and heads basically southwesterly, reaching China’s southern coast, where it empties into Qinzhou (known in Vietnam as the Gulf of Tonkin). This means that the canal will open into waters that will connect inner parts of China to trade with the ASEAN nations (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), opening new, higher levels of economic activity. Global Times mentions that the canal will “significantly reduce transit time—for example, cutting shipping times from Chongquing [China] to Singapore from 22 days to about seven days,” an astounding two-thirds reduction.
