September 6, 2026

China officially released the nautical map for the approaches to the country's major river-to-sea Pinglu Canal on Monday. Meanwhile, aids to navigation along the canal's seaward stretch were fully installed the same day, marking that the canal's maritime safety system — from channel marks to chart coverage — is now in place, according to a report by China Central Television (CCTV).

Dubbed a "project of the century," the 134.2-kilometer Pinglu Canal is the backbone of the country's New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a key initiative enhancing global trade connectivity for China's southwestern inland regions. It is also the first canal in China to be planned at the national level since 1949.

The nautical map is an official Pinglu Canal chart published by the China Maritime Safety Administration (MSA). It covers the newly built 22-kilometre coastal section from the Qinjiang Bridge on the G75 Lanhai Expressway, past Longmen Bridge, to the junction with Qinzhou Port, and joins seamlessly with existing Qinzhou Port charts to form a continuous chart series for the Qinzhou harbour area in the Beibu Gulf, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

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https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202609/1369978.shtml