The steady thunder of dump trucks breaks the serenity of what were once forested hills in the southern Chinese region of Guangxi. They carry mounds of earth excavated to build an enormous canal, with locks capable of accommodating 5,000-tonne cargo ships.
The 72.7 billion yuan ($10.3 billion) Pinglu Canal will stretch over 134 kilometers from the Xijin Reservoir, near Guangxi's capital city of Nanning, to the port of Qinzhou in the south, complementing existing highways and railways to move goods.
