Guizhou province, which sits in the center of a water transport system for southwestern China, now has its first national high-grade waterway to serve as south-north passage between the Panjiang and Hongshui River, giving Guizhou a better connection to the Pearl River.

Work on the project started in May 2008 with an estimated cost of more than 400 million yuan ($65.9 million).

Guizhou has also sped up construction work on the Honghe-Longtan hydropower station, with support from the Longtan Hydropower Development Co, of Guangxi.

Guizhou’s 3-year waterway construction plan is announced on Jan 1, 2014. And the Wujiang River passage will open in 2015, giving the province 700 kilometers of top waterways by 2016.