China’s landmark Pinglu Canal has entered its final phase of construction and is set to begin trial operations as early as September, with a first shipping route linking the country’s heartlands to the free-trade port of Hainan, according to Chinese state media reports. The Pinglu Canal – China’s most ambitious waterway project in centuries – will stretch 134km (83 miles) from Nanning, capital of the southern Guangxi region, to the Gulf of Tonkin, known as the Beibu Gulf in China. The aim is to...
Southeast Asia stands at the threshold of a nuclear renaissance. Vietnam and Russia signed an agreement in March for the Ninh Thuan 1 Nuclear Power Plant. The Philippines and Indonesia aim to have operational reactors by the early 2030s. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are studying small modular reactors. Given heightened energy insecurity, climate commitments and the imperative to meet surging electricity demand from industrial growth, data centres and AI development, nuclear energy is...