Pinglu Canal won the “Oscar” of green design, and the concept of ecological priority received international recognition

China News Service, Guilin, October 13 (Yang Chen, Chen Qiuxia) The 2026 World Canal Conference opened in Guilin, Guangxi on the 13th. At the opening ceremony, the World Green Design Organization awarded the Pinglu Canal Project the International Green Design Award and the International Green Design Contribution Award. For the first time, the Pinglu Canal won an international award in the field of green ecology.

The Pinglu Canal is the first national-level canal project to connect the river and the sea since the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is also the backbone project of the New Land-Sea Corridor in Western China. It was officially completed and opened to navigation on September 16 this year. Relying on systematic green innovative design throughout the entire life cycle, the Pinglu Canal stands out among major global infrastructure projects.

The Pinglu Canal route passes through an ecologically sensitive coastal river area. The construction management team adheres to the concept of ecological priority and integrates green design throughout the entire life cycle of planning, route selection, construction, and operation and maintenance. The team innovatively adopted technologies such as water-saving ship locks, water-land composite biological migration channels, mangrove "avoidance-protection-transplantation-restoration" protection model, and ecological slope protection. The comprehensive utilization rate of earth and stone exceeded 98%, achieving water conservation and waste resource utilization, and promoting the coordinated development of engineering construction and ecological protection.

The construction practice of the Pinglu Canal has inspired similar ecological projects: ecological protection should be placed at the source of planning to avoid simple ecological repairs in the later stage; systematic policy implementation, technological empowerment, and institutional guarantees should be adhered to, not only to meet compliance compensation, but also to strive to achieve ecological improvement.

It is reported that the International Green Design Award and the International Green Design Contribution Award were established by the World Green Design Organization in 2011. They select and commend projects, technologies, products and individual institutions with outstanding performance in the fields of green design and sustainable development around the world. They are known as the "Oscars" of the green design industry. The World Green Design Organization is the world's first international non-profit organization that promotes sustainable development through green design.