Qinzhou leverages the Pinglu Canal as an axis to drive comprehensive coastal development.

The reporter learned at the "Starting the 15th Five-Year Plan" series of themed press conferences held by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government Information Office on August 5 that the Pinglu Canal will be navigable in September this year. Qinzhou will use the Pinglu Canal as an axis to drive the entire region towards the sea, integrating port construction, industrial layout, park development, and urban supporting services. This will promote Qinzhou's transformation from "large port, specialized industry, small city" to "large port, strong industry, excellent city," accelerating the construction of a coastal canal city with high-quality development, high-level openness, and high-quality living.

As the central city of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, the strategic hub of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, and the seaward outlet of the Pinglu Canal, Qinzhou connects rivers and seas, links east and west, and integrates land and sea. Leveraging its geographical advantages, Qinzhou will systematically plan the construction of key infrastructure such as canal-side road corridors, inland port terminals, and dedicated railway lines. It will implement the overall planning of Qinzhou's inland ports, orderly develop and construct canal-side port-adjacent industrial parks, and accelerate the formation of a "vein-like" seaward industrial layout.

Focusing on its strategic positioning as the international gateway port of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor and a national comprehensive transportation hub, Qinzhou will fully implement the overall planning requirements of Beibu Gulf Port. It will accelerate the construction of a coordinated and efficient river-rail-sea multimodal transport system, achieving a river-sea combined transport capacity of over 64 million tons. This will drive the port's cargo throughput to exceed 300 million tons in five years, entering the top 20 global container ports. The increased port traffic will accelerate the aggregation of people, logistics, and capital flows into the city, and the enhanced port capacity will promote the city's level of openness.

After the Pinglu Canal becomes navigable, it will reshape the regional development pattern. Qinzhou will accelerate the construction of collection and distribution roads and railway branch lines along the canal, further eliminating logistics bottlenecks between "seaport—inland port—industrial park," and continuously reducing logistics costs for county-level industries. It will cultivate and expand inland shipping, vigorously develop Guangxi's inland shipping routes, innovate multimodal transport logistics organization models, and break through high-end sectors such as shipping finance and shipping brokerage. This will drive more goods, capital, and information to flow and gather towards the sea.