On August 28, 2022, the Pinglu Canal construction mobilization meeting, the backbone project of the new western land-sea channel, was held at the Madao Junction in Jiuzhou Town, Lingshan County, Qinzhou City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, marking the official start of the construction of the Pinglu Canal.

Liu Ning, Secretary of the Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Director of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Autonomous Region, said that the Pinglu Canal is the backbone of the new land-sea passage in the west and is of strategic significance for promoting the development of Guangxi and the southwest. After the canal is completed and opened to navigation, it will directly open up the shortest, most economical and most convenient access to the sea in inland Guangxi and the southwest and northwest regions of China, forming the urban agglomeration pattern of Nanning, Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang, and promoting the construction of an international gateway port in the Beibu Gulf.

Chen Hongqi, Secretary of the Party Group of the Department of Transportation of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, introduced: The Pinglu Canal is a river-sea connection project between the main stream of the Xijiang River and the Beibu Gulf. Beibu Gulf, with a total length of about 135 kilometers, will shorten the voyage of the middle and upper reaches of the Xijiang River into the sea by about 560 kilometers. The construction content of the Pinglu Canal project mainly includes waterway engineering, shipping hub engineering, cross-river facility engineering along the line and supporting engineering. The waterway grade is grade I inland river, the estimated total investment of the project is 72.73 billion yuan, and the construction period is 54 months.Editor/Ma Xue