The Guangxi Pinglu Canal project cost 68 billion yuan. The project starts from the Pingtang River Estuary of Xijin Reservoir in Hengzhou, Nanning City, and connects the Qinjiang River Section of Luwu Town, Qinzhou with a total length of 140 kilometers through the artificial pure excavation of about 20 kilometers. This artificial canal yet to be built is hailed as Guangxi’s Second Vessel of Ren Du and Du, and it is called Guangxi’s Project of the Century! Why does a canal make Guangxi people so excited? What impact will the construction of the Pinglu Canal have on Guangxi and even China?

The first EIA announcement

On November 5, 2021, the Guangxi Department of Transportation issued the "First Public Announcement of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor (Pinglu) Canal Channel Planning". The planning scope of the Pinglu Canal is from the mouth of the Pingtang River in the Xijin Reservoir Area, the main stream of the Xijiang River, along the Shaping River, across the watershed, and then along the Jiuzhou River down to Luwu, and flows into the sea via the Qinjiang River to Qinzhou Port. The total length is about 140km. . The overall route is divided into 4 sections: Shaping River Section, Watershed Section, Qinjiang River Mainstream Section, and Sea Port Section.

The cascade planning of the project adopts a four-level layout plan, from the Yujiang River side to the sea entrance, followed by Madaotou Junction, Qishidong Junction, Datianping Junction, Qingnian Sluice Junction. According to the announcement, the Pinglu Canal initially took into account the passing capacity of 5,000-ton ships, with a one-way passing capacity of 85 million tons per year, and a two-way capacity of 170 million tons per year. By comparison, the current capacity of the Nanfang Railway and the Liqin Railway in the Beibu Gulf is only 60 million tons per year. One canal is equivalent to the transportation capacity of six railways.

In addition, according to the latest news from the Guangxi Transportation Department, currently, Pinglu Canal has completed the project-related special studies, and the project approval is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.

Why did not start

According to records, Mr. Sun Yat-sen's "Strategy for the Founding of a Country" once proposed the idea of building the Pinglu Canal. Guangdong and Guangxi organized forces to conduct surveys in 1951, 1958, and 1960 (in addition, Guangxi in 1975 and 1979), and successively proposed the "Pinglu Canal Planning Report." In November 1992, the Guangxi Department of Communications compiled the "Preliminary Work Report on Pinglu Canal Project Construction", determined the "Canal Route Plan", etc., and was included in the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2017. ".

Regarding the delay in the construction of the Pinglu Canal, Ou Cheng, deputy director, said: The huge cost and the possibility of affecting the power generation of the Xijin Power Station are the main reasons. According to reports, the Pinglu Canal project cost a lot of money. If the planned national first-class waterway is to be built, the investment will be about 20-30 billion (yuan) according to the price level at the time, and it will be difficult to rely solely on the investment of the Guangxi local government. The Xijin reservoir area at the starting point of the canal has a small storage capacity and insufficient reservoir regulation capacity. The Pinglu Canal has a water leakage of about 20-30 cubic meters per second. Insufficient water will affect the power generation of the Xijin Power Station. Therefore, it has not been well promoted in history.

In short, on the one hand, the canal involves a wide range of projects, and technology and capital are major issues. The other is the issue of regional game. For example, the construction of the canal will inevitably affect the lower reaches of the Pearl River, which is opposed by Guangdong. Now that the new western land-sea corridor has been upgraded to a national strategy, the Ministry of Communications and the National Development and Reform Commission have clearly stated their support for the construction of the Pinglu Canal. This is another opportunity given to Guangxi by the state. Guangxi should seize this opportunity to actively seek support from relevant state ministries and commissions to include the Pinglu Canal as a key project in the national "14th Five-Year Plan" and start construction as soon as possible.

It is understood that after the completion of the Baise Hub on the Youjiang River in the upper reaches of the Xijin Reservoir, the construction of the Pinglu Canal will minimize the impact of the construction of the Pinglu Canal on Xijin’s power generation due to its multi-year adjustment capability. The above is feasible. Deputy Director Ou said that from the perspective of capital considerations, funds can be raised through national investment or through national policies, such as the transfer and development of land along the river. You can also find some powerful companies through financing. The introduction of policies attracted them. Once the canal is completed, the land on both sides of the canal will rapidly appreciate. "There are precedents for successful investment and development in similar projects abroad. Foresight developers who invest here will get good economic benefits." , Deputy Director Ou Cheng was convinced of this.

Technically, as a major infrastructure country, China already has experience in building complex projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Therefore, it is not a problem to build a small canal. Of course, the construction of canals may change the ecological environment along the route, but if scientific planning is done, the impact can be minimized. Moreover, my country has many canals operating experience and is very mature in environmental restoration and conservation.

In March 2020, it was clearly stated in the "Three-Year Implementation Plan for the Construction of Guangxi's Infrastructure to Make up for Shortcomings "Transportation Network" Construction (2020-2022)" issued by the autonomous region that the Pinglu Canal will start construction in June 2022. Completed in December 2029". In June, the project was included in the "Inland Waterway Navigation Development Outline" issued by the Ministry of Transport.

According to reports, the Transportation Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is currently carrying out project special studies, and plans to complete various special reviews, project proposal approval and work report preparation in 2021, and determine project investment and construction parties. In 2022, the survey and design and related special research will be completed and construction will start.

Geographic restrictions

Guangxi has many mountains! Guangxi is located on the southeastern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the west of Guangxi and Guangxi hills, and the sea of Beibu Gulf in the south. It is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It is slanted from northwest to southeast. The mountains are continuous, huge, and there are alternating ridges and valleys. It is surrounded by mountains and plateaus. And many hills and flatlands in the south.

There are so many rivers in Guangxi! There are as many as 986 rivers in Guangxi with rain-collecting areas of more than 50 square kilometers, which belong to the four major water systems of the Pearl River, the Yangtze River, the Inflow Sea in Southern Guangxi, and the Baidu River. The Yangtze River system is distributed in the northeast of Guangxi. There are 30 rivers. The main rivers Xiangjiang and Zijiang belong to the upper reaches of the Dongting Lake water system and flow into the Yangtze River through Hunan.

The other three major water systems in Guangxi all have a river of spring water flowing eastward, converging to the Xijiang River (called the Pearl River in Guangdong), forming the golden waterway of the Xijiang River, which flows from Guangzhou to the sea. The "Pearl River Water Transport Development High-level Coordination Meeting Office Work Report" pointed out: In 2019, the Pearl River water system inland river freight volume exceeded 1 billion tons, second only to the Yangtze River, ranking second in the world, and the port completed a cargo throughput of 620 million tons.

Guangxi, as the province with the largest area of the Xijiang River Basin, has failed to connect the Xijiang River with its outlet to the sea. Guangxi, and even the upper reaches of Guizhou, Hunan and other places, can only leave the port from Guangzhou. The Beibu Gulf port in Guangxi can only look forward to the goods. The green mountains and rivers, as well as the typical karst landforms, have created the beautiful natural scenery of Guangxi. Although it does not hinder the pace of tourists, it keeps the roaring trains and cars out of the door. It has become the unattainable end of land transportation. Guangxi is relatively closed. The so-called lack of access means no financial means.

In recent years, Guangxi is striving to build a new pattern of all-round open development of "South, North, East, West". Obviously, it is necessary to strengthen communication and collaboration with the outside world to change the situation of independent development and sparse contacts in the past. Well integrated into regional economic development.

Hold the throat of Guangxi Xianghai's development

From a strategic point of view, the construction of the Pinglu Canal is a way of changing fate against the sky and choking the throat of Xianghai’s economic development.

Communicate the Beibu Gulf shipping and the Xijiang Golden Waterway. The Xijiang shipping trunk line and the Beibu Gulf seaport will form a comprehensive transportation network that connects rivers and seas and combines land and water transportation. This will not only open up Nanning’s seaward development outlet, effectively improve the status quo of "Guangxi goods do not go to Beibu Gulf port", and can also attract more The flow of cargo in the western inland provinces has made Guangxi the primary choice for the western inland provinces to cross the state and the provinces and across the oceans: With the construction of navigation facilities for the Baise Water Control Project on the Youjiang River in the upper reaches of the Pearl River, after nearly 20 years of suspension of navigation, Yunnan will connect the river to the sea through the Youjiang River; in Guizhou in the Liujiang River Basin, the goods from Liuzhou in the region can be diverted from Guiping to Beibu Gulf.

The River-Sea Unicom solves the cost problem and gathers high-quality sources of goods for the Beibu Gulf channel to the sea. The transportation of goods is the first consideration of interest, so the waterway with the lowest transportation cost is often the first choice. Before the completion of the Pinglu Canal, the transportation of goods to Qin, Bei, and Fang relied only on roads and railways. There was no water transportation to arrive. The transportation volume was limited. It was difficult to meet the requirements of large quantities of goods in and out, and it was difficult to effectively reduce costs. As a result, the western provinces and even Guangxi's local goods do not go through Beibu Gulf Port. Although Guangxi has adopted various measures to reduce the cost of cargo transportation, and more and more cargo transportation chooses Beibu Gulf Port, no matter how it is reduced, the transportation volume and cost of other channels cannot be compared with waterway. According to the design plan, after the completion of the Pinglu Canal, 3000-ton river and sea ships can directly reach Nanning and other cities from coastal ports, realizing water transportation "door-to-door" services. Online information shows that in 2018, the cargo throughput of river ports in Guangxi alone reached 139 million tons. After the cargo from Yunnan and Guizhou came in, it will further increase the supply of goods in the Beibu Gulf.

Shorten the mileage to sea. The Pinglu Canal connects the main shipping route of the Xijiang River with the main channel of the Beibu Gulf, shortening the mileage of most of the cities along the river in Guangxi, and is particularly beneficial to the development of industrial and mining enterprises in the rich mining areas of western Guangxi. Taking Nanning as an example, the mileage from Qinzhou Port via the Pinglu Canal is only 280 kilometers, which is 560 kilometers shorter than the original mileage.

Further enrich Guangxi's industrial system. In terms of marine economy, the Pinglu Canal has opened up waterways to the river and the sea for inland areas such as Nanning, Guigang, Chongzuo, Baise, and Laibin. The chemical industry and other industries provide conditions for deepening inland development. At the same time, it also provides convenience for inland industrial enterprises to participate in the marine economy and turn into marine-related industrial enterprises, reducing the cost of participating in the development of the marine economy.

In August 2019, the "Master Plan for the Western Land-Sea New Corridor" was approved by the State Council. The three main passages of the new western land-sea passage will start from Chongqing and Chengdu, all with the Beibu Gulf as their outlets. Goods are transported from Sichuan and Chongqing to Southeast Asian countries and exported from Beibu Gulf Port through the new land-sea channel in the west, which saves much time than the traditional Yangtze River waterway.

The construction of the Pinglu Canal is in line with the national development strategy and is also conducive to regional development. After the completion of the Pinglu Canal, it can open up more convenient and economical access to the sea for Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces, as well as the southwest, central and northwest regions. It is conducive to promoting the formation of a new pattern in the development of the western region and promoting high-quality economic development in the western region.

In addition to the Pinglu Canal, Guangxi also has an artificial canal under planning-the Xianggui Canal. In the future, after the completion of the two canals, China's most economically active Yangtze River Economic Belt, Xijiang Economic Belt, and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port, and even the entire Guangxi will have better communication and cooperation, and truly realize river-sea linkage. Editor/He Yuting