From Siti Fauziah Hasan
NANNING, China: The newly completed Pinglu Canal here is being seen as a symbol of connectivity, opportunities and friendship between China and ASEAN, linking the region through a new maritime gateway to the South China Sea.
Deputy Director-General of Guangxi Foreign Affairs Office, Liang Ying, said the canal, which runs from the mountains of Guangxi to the Beibu Gulf and the South China Sea, would strengthen connectivity between Guangxi and the wider region.
“Your visit to Guangxi coincides with the completion and opening to navigation of China’s Pinglu Canal. The waters of the Pinglu Canal start from the mountains of Guangxi, flow to the Beibu Gulf, then to the South China Sea and on to the hometowns of each of you.
“These are waters of connectivity, opportunity and friendship,” she said in her speech at the closing event of the ASEAN Media Workshop in Guangxi, organised by the China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC), here on Friday night (Sept. 18).
The four-day visit in Guangxi involved 21 media practitioners from nine countries, including Malaysia and provided participants with exposure to Guangxi’s ecological attractions, industrial development and technological innovation including a visit to the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) 2026.
The media workshop also included visits to several other locations in China, including Fujian and Beijing.
Liang said CAEXPO 2026, held annually in Nanning, also served as a platform connecting ASEAN countries with the wider world, as well as a bridge for cooperation, mutual benefit and people-to-people ties.
She expressed hope that the media would continue to serve as a bridge, with sincerity as a bond, to jointly tell more stories of mutual understanding, companionship and shared prosperity between China and ASEAN.
The Pinglu Canal, a key project of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, officially opened to shipping on September 16, creating a new water transport corridor linking southwestern China with ASEAN and international markets.
It is also a landmark project in China’s efforts to strengthen its transportation network. – BERNAMA
