The Pinglu Canal, a megaproject designed in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to handle vessels of the 5,000-metric-ton class, entered the water-testing phase on Wednesday, bringing it a step closer to its official opening in September.

As the first canal built in the country to connect a river system directly to the sea since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the landmark infrastructure project is expected to establish a convenient and cost-effective passage between China and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Guangxi is the only region that links China to the ASEAN market by both land and sea. "The canal will enable ASEAN members to connect more efficiently and conveniently with China's inland market," Wei Tao, chairman of Guangxi, told China Daily in an earlier interview.

The 134.2-kilometer-long waterway, which stretches from the Xijin reservoir in the city of Hengzhou to Qinzhou port in the Beibu Gulf, is a key project on the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor that connects China's western regions to global markets.

On Wednesday morning, the canal's Madao and Qishi navigation hubs were filled with water, which allowed it to achieve full-channel connectivity and launch comprehensive water-fed commissioning.

With more than 96 percent of the project now complete, the waterway is scheduled to open to traffic during the China-ASEAN Expo scheduled for September in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, according to Ping-lu Canal Group.

Local authorities said that upon completion, the canal will reduce the inland shipping distance for export-quality goods from southwestern China by more than 560 km, compared with the previous route through Guangzhou port, and save around 5.2 billion yuan ($768 million) annually in logistics costs.

Wu Tao, a professor of history at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said that without convenient access to sea lanes, it was difficult to export goods from western China to global markets through maritime shipping.

By opening a direct river-to-sea link, the Pinglu Canal eliminates developmental bottlenecks and facilitates the gradual shift of western China's economy from an inward-looking inland model to an export-oriented maritime economy, driven by integrated land and sea transportation, he said.

"Despite highly developed road, air and railway transportation systems, inland waterway shipping routes remain irreplaceable. Large cargo capacity and low transportation costs make such routes ideal for bulk outbound shipment of agricultural produce and mineral resources," Wu added.

Ni Yuping, vice-president of the School of Humanities at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said the canal will help to improve China's cross-border logistics systems, and accelerate economic and trade growth in its southwestern hinterland.

"ASEAN member states having economic relations with China can deepen their trade with the country, realizing mutually beneficial outcomes," he said.

The Pinglu Canal inherits the functional quality of ancient waterways to spur endogenous growth of domestic regional economies while drawing on the development concepts behind the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal, which connect global maritime shipping and help expand cross-border trade, Ni added.

According to customs data, from January to April, China's trade with ASEAN economies reached 2.75 trillion yuan, up 15.7 percent year-on-year, accounting for 16.9 percent of the nation's total foreign trade volume. Among ASEAN member states, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia ranked as China's top three trading partners, the data showed.

China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 17 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for six years.

Shi Ruipeng in Nanning contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn