{"id":258947,"date":"2026-01-26T20:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258947\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:59:08","slug":"china-close-to-opening-us10-billion-canal-linking-heartlands-to-southeast-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258947\/","title":{"rendered":"China close to opening US$10 billion canal linking heartlands to Southeast Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">China is expected to finish construction on the landmark Pinglu Canal before the end of this year, taking just four years to complete the 72.7 billion yuan (US$10.4 billion) project to boost trade links with the country\u2019s top export destination: Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The mega-project will provide China\u2019s landlocked southwestern provinces with direct access to global shipping lanes, making it faster and cheaper to transport goods between the Chinese interior and neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Construction on the project has already entered its final phase, and it is set to open to navigation by the end of 2026, state media outlet China National Radio reported on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">About 89.7 per cent of the planned investment has been completed, Guangxi Daily reported on Sunday, citing a government conference.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The Pinglu Canal features a waterway large enough to accommodate 5,000-tonne vessels, three dual-line shiplock hubs, and 27 newly built or renovated bridges, 13 of which have already been put into operation, the report said.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">With work progressing smoothly, preparations to open the canal to shipping traffic are set to begin from May, according to the report, citing a senior manager on the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China is expected to finish construction on the landmark Pinglu Canal before the end of this year, taking&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[136737,136732,114,1657,136733,184,136736,136738,68928,136735,85,46,136740,136739,136734,15020,1032,9444,86176],"class_list":{"0":"post-258947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-asean-region","9":"tag-beibu-gulf","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-china-national-radio-cnr","13":"tag-economy","14":"tag-guangxi","15":"tag-guangxi-autonomous-region","16":"tag-guizhou","17":"tag-gulf-of-tonkin","18":"tag-il","19":"tag-israel","20":"tag-nanning","21":"tag-pinglu-canal","22":"tag-qinjiang-river","23":"tag-southeast-asia","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-xinhua","26":"tag-yunnan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}