The official opening of the Pinglu Canal on September 16 is a milestone in modern Chinese history. More than an infrastructural feat, it signals a strategic recalibration of how China’s inland economies connect with the sea and Southeast Asia, and augurs the next phase of regional growth.
Designed for vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes, the 134.2km (83.4 mile) waterway stretches from the Xijin reservoir in Hengzhou, an emerging city in Guangxi, to the Gulf of Tonkin (known as the Beibu Gulf in…
