China’s New International Land-Sea Corridor: Implications for Supply Chains and ASEAN Trade

China’s New International Land-Sea Corridor is reshaping logistics connectivity between western China and Southeast Asia. This article explains how new infrastructure, such as Guangxi’s Pinglu Canal, and recent financial support measures enhance multimodal routing options for shippers. It also highlights the corridor’s growing strategic value for supply chains, trade finance, and investment.

The Guangxi Pinglu Canal, a waterway designed for 5,000-ton vessels that links Nanning to the Beibu Gulf, has entered its final construction phase and is expected to open to navigation by the end of 2026. The canal is closely tied to Guangxi’s Beibu Gulf gateway and is an important component of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (Land-Sea Corridor), strengthening river-sea access from inland production hubs to southern port gateways and ASEAN routes.

The Land-Sea Corridor is anchored in Chongqing and links inland China to global shipping lanes via southern provinces such as Guangxi and Yunnan through rail, sea, and highway routes. It explicitly focuses on shortening transit times, expanding routing options for western China, and deepening trade ties with ASEAN within the Belt and Road framework.

In late December 2025, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and seven other departments issued a package of 21 financial support measures for the corridor. The measures aim to make Land-Sea Corridor lanes easier to use at scale by strengthening two core functions, financing and trade settlement, including expanded trade and supply-chain financing tools and support for broader cross-border use of the digital renminbi (e-CNY), alongside steps to reduce payment friction and improve access to working capital for corridor-linked activity.

Overview of the corridor

China is positioning the Land-Sea Corridor as a land-sea linkage that connects the Silk Road Economic Belt with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and as part of a wider regional development push that also coordinates with initiatives such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt. For western regions, the business relevance is straightforward: a more direct channel to international sea routes, with a particular emphasis on trade connectivity with Southeast Asia and other overseas markets.

In practical terms, the corridor’s value proposition is improving day-to-day logistics performance by integrating inland rail and road services with southern port shipping and the operating footprint is now large enough to matter commercially. In 2025, the Land-Sea Corridor rail service handled 1.425 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo, up 47.6 percent year on year. Operators have also expanded the approved container cargo list to over 11,000 items and increased scheduled services to 44 train routes, which can improve service regularity for shippers. At the network level, official reporting says the corridor now reaches 555 ports in 127 countries and regions, reinforcing its role as an export channel from western China into global maritime lanes.

Main routes and logistics nodes

The Land-Sea Corridor supports several core service models centered on rail-sea intermodal transport through southern gateways. These models are designed to connect inland production hubs with regional and international shipping lanes.

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The Land-Sea Corridor is also coordinated across a group of participating provincial-level regions, each playing a distinct role as an inland consolidation hub, border gateway, manufacturing base, or port-linked logistics platform supporting corridor flows.

Recent developments and why it matters now

In late December 2025, the PBOC and seven other departments issued guidelines setting out 21 financial support measures for the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. The package is intended to make the corridor easier to use at scale by strengthening two core functions: financing and trade settlement. It emphasizes broader funding channels for corridor-linked infrastructure and logistics hubs, expanded trade and supply chain finance (including document-based financing pilots), and platform-based services to connect banks with corridor projects and participating companies. The guideline also encourages wider cross-border use of the e-CNY to help reduce settlement costs, alongside support for renminbi settlement in corridor-related trade and investment.

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The corridor is positioned as a land-sea linkage connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, reinforcing China’s broader Belt and Road connectivity agenda and supporting western China’s “opening up” through southern gateways. For businesses, the value is not only faster transport on select lanes, but also route diversification, especially for China-ASEAN trade, by adding scalable southbound options beyond traditional east-coast routings.

With corridor volumes continuing to rise, firms have a stronger commercial case to pilot Land-Sea Corridor lanes early while policy tailwinds are building.

Business implications

Logistics and distribution

The corridor provides a practical lane-diversification option for companies moving goods between western China and Southeast Asia. Logistics teams should prioritize Stock Keeping Units (SKU) and lane combinations where rail-sea routing improves total landed cost, reduces inventory days, or increases reliability versus traditional coastal routings. For lanes touching Guangxi, the coming Pinglu Canal may further improve port access and lower reliance on trucking for some flows over time, so shippers may want to watch pilot opportunities as navigation preparations begin.

Manufacturing footprint decisions

Improved southbound connectivity strengthens the case for inland locations when western provinces offer cost advantages or proximity to suppliers and customers. Companies can reassess whether production and consolidation can move closer to inland demand while maintaining export access through southern gateways.

Trade finance and settlement

Treasury teams should review corridor-linked financing and settlement options that may improve cash conversion cycles, including renminbi settlement where commercially practical. The main value is operational: reducing friction in recurring documentation, payment processing, and working-capital planning.

Investment and partnership opportunities

The corridor is expanding demand for third-party logistics, warehousing, and industrial-park services around key nodes. Foreign investors may find opportunities in bonded warehousing, distribution centers, and value-added logistics tied to stable corridor volumes.

Customs facilitation and trade compliance

Execution depends on fundamentals. Firms should plan documentation and clearance workflows early, especially for multimodal handovers, and assess whether bonded logistics structures in target nodes are commercially usable. To manage risk, pilot first, standardize documentation across transport legs, clarify Incoterms and liability allocation, and maintain controls on Harmonized System (HS) classification, licensing (where relevant), and customs data accuracy.

Key takeaways

Foreign companies and investors can use the Land-Sea Corridor as a route-diversification tool to strengthen shipping resilience, particularly on China-ASEAN lanes. The corridor is most relevant for SKUs and lane pairs where rail—sea routing delivers measurable gains in transit time, reliability, or total landed cost after switching and handling costs.

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In practice, many stakeholders validate the corridor through pilot shipments via Guangxi’s Beibu Gulf gateways and corridor-linked ports already used by their logistics providers. The corridor’s latest financial support measures may also affect trade finance assumptions, including corridor-linked bank services and settlement options tied to wider cross-border use of the e-CNY. As policy support strengthens and corridor volumes scale, early pilots can translate into more predictable and bankable supply chains.

Dezan Shira & Associates provides supply chain and tariff advisory to help businesses improve resilience, optimize sourcing, and manage cross-border exposure. From supplier consolidation in China to expansion into Vietnam, India, or ASEAN, we support partner identification, due diligence, tariff engineering, and continuity planning. To arrange a consultation, please contact China@dezshira.com. 

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