China opened a vital waterway on Wednesday, giving its landlocked southwestern areas a shortcut to the coast and overseas markets, as the country moves to further strengthen its trade relations with regional neighbors, particularly those in Southeast Asia. 中國星期三開通一條重要水運通道，為西南地區內陸省區通往沿海和海外市場提供了一條“捷徑”。隨著中國進一步加強與週邊國家，尤其是東南亞國家的貿易聯系，這一工程將發揮重要作用。 The Pinglu Canal, built in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region at a cost of 72.7 billion yuan ($10.8 billion), stretches for 134.2 kilometers from the Xijin reservoir in the county-level city of Hengzhou to the Qinzhou Port in the Beibu Gulf. It is the first waterway built in the country to connect a river system directly to the sea since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. 平陸運河位於廣西壯族自治區，總投資727億元人民幣（約合108億美元），全長134.2公里，北起橫州市西津水庫，南至北部灣欽州港。這是中華人民共和國成立（1949年）以來，中國建設的首條...