The Pinglu Canal Youth Hub presents a panoramic view. Photo courtesy of Chu Naiqin.

Technicians from China Telecom Qinzhou branch operate drones along the Pinglu Canal to test 5G network signals. ▲China Telecom construction workers verify pipeline and cable relocation resources along the canal. Inside the Pinglu Canal smart dispatch platform. ▲A customized 5G network from China Telecom ensures smooth quay crane operations at the Qinzhou terminal. Photo courtesy of Beibu Gulf Port Qinzhou Terminal Co., Ltd. ▲On December 24, 2025, staff from China Telecom Qinzhou branch laid cables at Yongfu Bridge.

At Jiangkou Street, Pingtang Village, Xinfu Town, Hengzhou City, Guangxi, 62-year-old retired resident Lei Yubao gazed at the surging waters of the Pinglu Canal with anticipation: "My biggest wish now is to ride the canal's momentum, lead everyone in developing cultural tourism, and bring more young people back." The elder's hopes are set to bloom as this century-defining project sets sail.

Connecting the Xijiang River in the north and the blue sea in the south. With a total investment of approximately 72.7 billion yuan and a length of 134.2 kilometers, the Pinglu Canal is the first river-sea connecting canal in the history of New China and a core backbone project of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. Once operational, it will shorten the sea route for southwestern inland rivers by over 560 kilometers, transforming the Guangxi region from a hinterland with rivers and seas at its back into an open hub linking inland and coastal areas.

A century-old aspiration meets a monumental project. China Telecom Guangxi Branch (hereinafter referred to as Guangxi Telecom) has been involved throughout, safeguarding all aspects, and empowering every area—from the initial offensive of pipeline and cable relocation, to full-time protection during construction, to the digital foundation of a smart canal. Telecom personnel have taken root along the riverbanks, working day and night, writing a substantial and vibrant thousand-day mission report.

Clearing the Path: Relocation Efforts Open New Horizons

To move forward, obstacles must first be cleared. The Pinglu Canal is built to inland Class I waterway standards, capable of accommodating 5,000-ton vessels. Within the construction red line, communication poles and cables are densely packed, and pipeline networks crisscross. A large number of aging cross-river lines and field poles urgently need relocation and renovation—this is the "first battle" before construction begins, with heavy tasks and tight deadlines that directly impact the overall project schedule.

As the main force undertaking over 80% of the relocation tasks, Guangxi Telecom designated the project as its top political priority in July 2022, establishing a special Pinglu Canal Project Development Office. This created a command system linking regional and municipal levels, coordinating top-down and mobilizing efforts across the region, breaking down geographical barriers and integrating all resources.

In October 2023, the Pinglu Canal Group set a goal: complete the installation of over a thousand utility poles, lay hundreds of kilometers of suspension wires, and construct and remove thousands of kilometers of optical cables by year-end. Under normal pace, these workloads would require at least a year, but the team was left with only two months.

With such a heavy responsibility, the telecom iron army responded swiftly. The company mobilized more than ten professional construction teams from across the region for emergency support. At peak times, 458 construction workers and 96 machines were fully deployed. Sweat soaked their work clothes, and welding sparks lit up the night sky as poles rose in the fields and optical cables extended inch by inch along the banks of the Qinjiang River.

Two phases of relocation were seamlessly connected: the first phase focused on tackling the challenge of bridge optical cable migration, completing the relocation of all communication lines within the telecom-responsible areas along the canal and optical cables on 17 bridges. In total, 1,143 poles were erected, 2,975 kilometers of optical cables were laid, 2,117 kilometers were removed, and 16 optical distribution boxes were relocated. The second phase precisely aligned with new bridge opening milestones, completing pipeline optimization upgrades point by point, achieving a closed loop of "new bridge completed, cables on bridge, old lines cleared."

The relocation of the Qinjiang First Bridge was the toughest "hard bone" of the entire campaign. As the oldest cross-river hub bridge in Qinzhou with the densest communication lines, it serves as the core throat of the city's cross-river communications—with complex lines and extremely low tolerance for errors, any mistake could disrupt communication stability across all urban areas. A dedicated task force worked 24-hour shifts, conducting precise surveys and meticulous construction. At 4:30 AM on April 30, 2024, as night gave way to dawn, the final section of cross-river optical cable was successfully moved onto the temporary bridge. A task initially estimated to take over 10 days was completed in just 6 days.

Speed was accompanied by quality. On the construction section in Qingsong Village, Jiuzhou Town, Qinzhou City, facing the unique "7"-shaped transitional pole route, the construction team proactively reviewed and optimized the design, upgrading single poles to sturdy H-poles and adding reinforcement poles at key turning points, building a "double protection" safety line.

"Personnel rotate, but equipment never stops—24-hour operations across the entire line," said Jiang Wenwu, General Manager of the On-site Comprehensive Maintenance Center of China Telecom Qinzhou branch, capturing the dedication of all攻坚 personnel. Before New Year's Day 2024, the Pinglu Canal Group sent a special letter of thanks, highly praising China Telecom for its commitment to the bigger picture and willingness to shoulder heavy responsibilities, demonstrating political responsibility in serving national strategy through practical actions.

Temporary relocations made way for the project, while permanent moves empower the future. Once the river hubs and cross-river bridges are fully completed, all temporarily relocated pipelines will return to permanent routes, allowing communication infrastructure to develop in sync with the canal project for long-term success.

Guarding the Path: Communications Stay Ahead of the Construction Schedule

As construction commenced, communication protection was immediately in place. Throughout the canal's construction cycle, Guangxi Telecom consistently adhered to the principle of "communications running ahead of the construction schedule, services meeting actual needs," both safeguarding the efficient progress of the century project and protecting the livelihoods of residents along both banks.

To support construction, a "digital foundation" was built. Addressing the complex terrain and construction scenarios along the route, Guangxi Telecom implemented targeted strategies with differentiated network deployment: a 1.8G+2.1G NR basic network was laid out on regular waterways to ensure stable communication for daily construction and future navigation; an enhanced 1.8G+3.5G NR network was established in core areas such as hub ship locks and port zones, improving high-bandwidth, high-concurrency, and low-latency capabilities. The team worked overnight for four consecutive days to activate dedicated business lines for key sections, enabling fully digitalized processes for project inspection, document flow, and remote dispatch. Eleven power-free, network-free intelligent monitoring devices were installed, providing 24-hour visualized monitoring and round-the-clock risk alerts at high-risk points. During construction, over 10 million yuan was invested in special safeguard funds, completing the construction and renovation of 193 5G base stations along and around the canal.

"Currently, China Telecom has achieved full 5G coverage along the Pinglu Canal, and 5G-A networks are operational at the three core hub nodes, the water comprehensive service area, and key industrial parks," said Wei Hong, General Manager of the Wireless Network Optimization Center of China Telecom Qinzhou branch. This represents a forward-looking deployment for the canal's long-term operational needs.

Deepening commitment to livelihoods, digital life was brightened on both banks. In September 2024, the new campus of the Canal Stone Bridge Primary School in Jiuzhou Town was officially inaugurated, with 462 relocated students moving into brand-new facilities. Guangxi Telecom's technical team planned ahead, completing cabling, debugging, and optimization in every classroom and dormitory building, achieving full network coverage across office, teaching, and living areas before the school year began. On the first day of school, children in new classrooms took classes in real-time with students from prestigious urban schools—across screens, mountains and seas connected, with synchronized classes and expert teacher interactions becoming routine, breaking down urban-rural education barriers.

"The Pinglu Canal brought the children a new campus, and Telecom's network connected them to a new future," said Principal Zhong Maotian, a testament to China Telecom's services rooted in people's livelihoods. Along the canal, homestays and rural tourism are booming, and full 5G coverage is delivering this "new future" to more households through fiber optics. Meanwhile, the canal's pole and cable renovation project has adopted an innovative green construction model, winning the Excellent Award in the 3rd "New Green Cup" National Finals and a third prize in the special competition, gradually building a full-chain support system characterized by "speed in construction, warmth in service, and depth in operations."

Paving the Way to the Sea: A Smart Canal Opens a New Journey

One canal connects rivers and seas; a digital intelligence system powers the future. Guangxi Telecom is helping build the nation's first full-lifecycle digitalized smart canal on the Pinglu Canal—beyond the physical waterway, an invisible, efficient, and intelligent digital network is being constructed, bringing modern vitality to the river.

Strengthening the foundation ensures data can be "connected and transmitted." Across 26 project departments along the entire route, 75 fiber-optic dedicated lines, 540 smart dormitories, and 224 intelligent monitoring systems have been deployed, achieving full-scenario network coverage for office, construction, and security needs. For remote work sites, 99 "power-free, network-free small ICT" projects have been implemented, eliminating communication blind spots one by one, truly realizing "wherever construction advances, digital support extends." Eight temporary bridges in downtown Qinzhou are equipped with AI monitoring systems for 24-hour safety hazard inspections.

Intelligent dispatch allows the canal to be "managed precisely and controlled stably." The Pinglu Canal's natural 65-meter water level drop is the core challenge for direct river-sea navigation. Guangxi Telecom participated in the construction of the command and dispatch center, innovatively building a "Nanning Main Center + Qingnian Hub Sub-Center" dual-core disaster recovery dispatch system: the main center oversees overall dispatch and aggregates network data, while the sub-center, located close to the navigation frontline, specializes in ship lock control and emergency response. The two centers back each other up and operate in coordination.

As the canal's "smart brain," the command and dispatch center undertakes core functions including overall navigation dispatch, emergency command, data governance, and collaborative coordination, serving as critical infrastructure ensuring safe, efficient, and intelligent operation. The center integrates construction and operation data for seamless transition, converting construction-phase engineering monitoring data into core capabilities for navigation dispatch and smart maintenance.

"We are building two canals: one tangible on land, and one invisible smart canal online," said Wang Yulong, Deputy Director of the Science, Technology, and Information Department of the Pinglu Canal Group, precisely capturing the project's digital-intelligent core.

Scenario implementation ensures digital value is "well utilized and fully released." In July 2026, when Typhoon Maysak directly struck the Beibu Gulf, interrupting multiple coastal communication lines, the 5G dedicated network customized by Guangxi Telecom for Qinzhou Port experienced zero interruptions and zero packet loss—crane operation videos and equipment parameters were transmitted in real-time, and port dispatch operated in an orderly manner.

In the Dafengjiang estuary, affected by sea fog and backlighting, ship recognition accuracy was once only 50% to 60%. Liu Xunde, a solutions manager at China Telecom, stationed himself at the Municipal Ocean Bureau, comparing ship images frame by frame and refining algorithms repeatedly, ultimately raising accuracy to 90% to 95%, strengthening the intelligent electronic fence for nearshore waters. Leveraging solid technical expertise, Guangxi Telecom also successfully secured a national-level smart fishing port project worth tens of millions, achieving closed-loop management of ship collision warnings, fishing moratorium controls, and typhoon prevention.

One river connects rivers and seas, and a thousand industries flourish together. After the Pinglu Canal opens to navigation, annual transportation cost savings are expected to exceed 5 billion yuan. Cargo volume at the Liujing Rail-Water Intermodal Hub has surged 280% year-on-year. Port industries in Qinzhou (green petrochemicals), Fangchenggang (steel and non-ferrous metals), and Beihai (electronic information) are rapidly agglomerating, with channel advantages increasingly transforming into development advantages.

Lin Feng, Deputy General Manager of China Telecom Qinzhou Port Branch, noted that China Telecom has already implemented 3 5G customized network benchmark projects in the terminal industry. Plans call for 5 more customized network projects at Qinzhou Port, serving the industrial and logistics sectors, injecting strong "digital-intelligent momentum" into the construction of the Beibu Gulf International Gateway Port.

A thousand-day mission, one river opening the way. Clearing the path creates space for national strategy; guarding the path protects every second of the century project and marks the warmth of people's livelihoods; paving the path lays a digital-intelligent route to the sea for the canal's future. With thousands of sails competing and rivers and seas unfurling, China Telecom will continue to empower canal development and open-up upgrades with digital strength, enabling this century project to radiate even greater technological vitality in the new digital era.