Dredging to deepen, extend Zuojiang River Vietnam-Guangdong channel

THE south west Guangxi region has launched the class three navigational channel dredging project on the section from Chongzuo to Nanning on the Zuojiang River that will enable ships of 1,000 tonnes to sail direct from Chongzuo to the Pearl River Delta, Xinhua reports.

A branch of the Pearl, the Zuojiang River reaches Vietnam in the west and Guangdong province in the east. Today, it can only accommodate ships of 100 tonnes, far from able to cater the growing demand for cargo shipping.

The CNY450 million (US$72.23 million) project is scheduled to take two years to complete after which it will raise the river's capacity to 30.5 million tonnes per year.

Guangxi's major navigational channel will be 1,480 kilometres, a benefit to river ports, enabling them to develop into manufacturing centres, allowing goods to move efficiently from the east of China to the west.