Doing Business in Xi'an

Chinese vice premier stresses opening up in western regions as Pinglu Canal opens

China has opened the Pinglu Canal, a 134.2-kilometre waterway linking Nanning in Guangxi to the Beibu Gulf, completed after four years at a cost of 72.7 billion yuan (about US$10.75 billion). At the opening ceremony in Qinzhou, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said the canal should be used to build a first-class international gateway port at Beibu Gulf and to deepen opening-up in China's western regions. The canal shortens the sea route between inland southwestern China and Southeast Asia and is positioned as a backbone project of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor and Belt and Road cooperation with ASEAN. No new rules, obligations or benefits were announced — this is an infrastructure milestone and a policy signal rather than a binding measure.