{
  "id": 7749464,
  "title": "China's Pinglu Canal to link landlocked regions with Southeast Asia | All about the trade shortcut",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/chinas-pinglu-canal-to-link-landlocked-regions-with-southeast-asia",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T09:07:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hindustan Times - World News",
    "slug": "hindustan-times-world-news",
    "url": "https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/china-pinglu-canal-to-link-landlocked-regions-with-southeast-asia-asean-nations-all-about-the-trade-shortcut-101789546308466.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "China has inaugurated a 134-kilometer long canal, the Pinglu Canal, which will serve as a trade shortcut between its landlocked regions and Southeast Asia. At a cost of 72.7 billion yuan, the canal took four years to construct and will link Nanning in Guangxi to the Gulf of Tonkin. State broadcaster CCTV hailed it as the \"project of our century\". This canal, part of President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, is the first of its kind since the People's Republic of China's founding in 1949. The canal's opening comes as China intensifies ties with Southeast Asia, particularly in light of tensions in West Asia. The canal will reduce the journey of goods from Guangzhou to the sea by at least 560 kilometers and cut transport costs by an estimated 18 to 30 percent, saving over five billion yuan ($745 million) in the sector. It will also benefit rural areas in Sichuan, Chongqing, and Yunnan, and improve the movement of coal, ore, cereals, chemicals, agricultural produce, and other materials to foreign markets.",
  "summary": "The opening of the canal has led China to seek to deepen its ties with ASEAN countries in the wake of the rising tensions in the West Asia region.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Gulf News",
        "title": "China opens major canal linking southwest to sea, cutting 560-km trade detour",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/china-opens-major-canal-linking-southwest-to-sea-cutting-560-km-trade",
        "published": "2026-09-16T07:39:49.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "China opens major canal linking landlocked regions to sea",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/china-opens-major-canal-linking-landlocked-regions-to-sea-7745758",
        "published": "2026-09-16T08:20:01.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "China opens major canal linking landlocked regions to sea",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/china-opens-major-canal-linking-landlocked-regions-to-sea",
        "published": "2026-09-16T08:22:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "China opens major Pinglu Canal, giving landlocked regions a shorter route to the sea and boosting regional trade",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/china-opens-major-pinglu-canal-giving-landlocked-regions-a-shorter",
        "published": "2026-09-16T09:46:52.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Semafor",
        "title": "EU hardens its China stance, as trade war risk heightens",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/eu-hardens-its-china-stance-as-trade-war-risk-heightens",
        "published": "2026-09-16T10:53:58.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}