Nanning Port, the core port on the upper reaches of Pinglu Canal, builds a new logistics channel from Southwest China to ASEAN

China News Service, Nanning, October 29 (Ye Yutong) You Tong, deputy manager of the production business center of Nanning Port Development Investment Co., Ltd., told reporters on the 29th that with the completion of the Pinglu Canal and its opening to navigation, Nanning Port is being upgraded from a traditional inland port to a departure port and distribution center for river-sea combined transport.

The picture shows the six sceneries operating area of ​​Nanning Port. Photo by Ye Yutong

You Tong said that the unique positioning of Nanning Port lies in the "riverside hub". It is the core port at the starting point of the Pinglu Canal and assumes the connection function between the Xijiang Golden Waterway and the Beibu Gulf Port. Different from the Beibu Gulf Port that directly faces the ocean, the core function of Nanning Port is the gathering of inland cargo sources and transfer and transfer. The goods from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing can be changed into "road, rail and water" here, and then go directly to the Beibu Gulf through the canal to go to sea. Its irreplaceability is reflected in the fact that it is the starting point of the shortest route for goods in the southwest hinterland of China to "connect the river to the sea". The inland river voyage is more than 560 kilometers shorter than the traditional sea voyage through Guangzhou. It also has the ability to transfer water and barge, and can complete the distribution operation of changing large ships to small ships.

In order to adapt to the needs of efficient logistics, Nanning Port has upgraded related facilities. In terms of hardware, the berthing capacity of No. 5 to No. 10 berths has been upgraded to 5,000 tons. A 40-ton gantry crane and a 41-ton quay crane have been added. The efficiency of the bulk cargo turntable in water has reached 800 tons, which is 4.5 times higher than the traditional process. In terms of customs clearance, the customs supervision work site has been completed and put into operation, and goods can be declared "one-stop" at Nanning Port, eliminating the need for off-site transit links. According to reports, the comprehensive logistics cost of Southwest goods going to sea through the canal has been reduced by 18% to 30%.

On the day the canal was opened to navigation, Nanning Port opened two river-sea combined transport routes, the "Nanning-Yangpu, Hainan" domestic trade route and the "Nanning-Can Tho, Vietnam" foreign trade route. Youtong said that the port will continue to increase the number of two-way foreign trade routes in the future. At present, the construction of the Liujing Railway Special Line is accelerating, and the "Nanning Long'an-Guangzhou Xintang" container route has been opened in the Xijiang direction, connecting to the Greater Bay Area. In terms of operational performance, Nanning Port completed a throughput of 668,400 tons in September 2026, a year-on-year increase of 145%. The new cargoes are mainly coal, mineral products, Yuanming powder, etc. from Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing, and the cargo source structure has shifted from "mainly local" to a diversified pattern of "southwest hinterland + local".

According to Nanning Port Development Investment Co., Ltd., from January to September 2026, Nanning Port completed cargo throughput of 4.187 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 37.48%. In the long term, the company plans to rely on the Pinglu Canal to continue to improve the "road, rail and water" multimodal transport system, deepen the "front port and back factory" layout, expand the direct shipping route network to ASEAN, and build Nanning Port into a benchmark port for river-sea intermodal transport in southwest China and a core gateway port for inland river docking with ASEAN.