Foreign media: China has almost completed the 10 billion dollar Pinglu Canal project, aimed at strengthening trade links between China's southwest region and Southeast Asia. Currently, China is considering a more ambitious and expensive waterway project - the Xiangguan Canal, which is expected to cost over 20 billion dollars.
The Xiangguan Canal will be a 300-kilometer waterway, essentially an extension of the Pinglu Canal, aimed at providing direct sea access to inland cities in China to the Beibu Gulf, thereby more quickly connecting global shipping routes and promoting trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China's largest export market.
If completed, the Xiangguan Canal will form a 3,200-kilometer waterway network, spanning four provinces: Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi. Although the construction costs of this project are extremely high, with the Pinglu Canal about to become operational, the opportunity to advance the project has increased. Experts say that now is the "best time" to launch this project.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1856640406915076/
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