The Pingnan-Wuxuan Expressway in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region opened to motorists on March 29, serving as another "economic artery" for the middle Guangxi area to reach the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Construction of the 63.7-kilometer expressway started in March 2020 at a cost of 9.94 billion yuan ($1.45 billion), according to Zhou Wen, chairman of Guangxi Communications Investment Group.

The dual four-lane expressway is designed to accommodate a maximum speed of 120 km per hour. It has 83 bridges, five tunnels and seven interchanges. Its launch is expected to boost exchanges and cooperation between Guangxi and Guangdong, and support the economic development of the counties it passes through.

It also shortens the travel time between Pingnan county in Guigang and Wuxuan county in Laibin from 130 to just 40 minutes.

Li Jianghua from the Guangxi Communications Investment Group noted how the expressway will improve the transportation links in the middle Guangxi areas and connect nearby tourist attractions such as Guiping's Xishan Mountain scenic area, Longtan National Forest Park and the former site of the Jintian Uprising, thus boosting the integrated development of transportation and tourism.

ETC toll lanes have been set up at the expressway's Jintian Service Area so that purveyors of fresh fruit and vegetables can have direct access to the expressway after the produce is picked. This is expected to help accelerate the modernization of agriculture in the region and boost rural vitalization.