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A new canal in southwestern China has opened with a 480-meter-plus fish passage and a dedicated wildlife crossing designed to protect land animals, including leopard cats and squirrels.
The canal became operational during the first year of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, covering 2026–2030, as Beijing seeks to promote more balanced regional development and expand high-standard opening up.
The priorities are outlined in the national plan, with the new waterway expected to strengthen connectivity between southwestern China and international markets.
The trade route is particularly significant for the region, which has historically lagged behind China’s more prosperous eastern coastal areas and faced higher transportation costs in moving goods to seaports.
Coal, ore, grain, new-energy materials and auto parts from southwestern China can now reach overseas markets more directly through the new route.
China’s trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in 2025.
During the first seven months of 2026, bilateral trade reached $744.41 billion, up 24.7 percent year on year and accounting for 21.8 percent of China’s total foreign trade during the period.
Boonsub Panichakarn of the Faculty of Logistics and Digital Supply Chain at Thailand’s Naresuan University said the canal’s importance goes beyond the distance it saves.
Its broader significance lies in its potential to reduce logistics costs, delivery-time variability and uncertainty across supply chains linking ASEAN with southwestern China, he said.
