Guilin has successfully taken over the right to host the 2026 World Canals Conference !
Release Time:2025-09-30

At 12:19 local time on September 25, 2025 (00:19 Beijing time on September 26), during the closing ceremony of the 2025 World Canals Conference held in Buffalo, New York, Guilin City officially took over  the hosting rights for the 2026 World Canals Conference, marking the official entry of this international event into the "Guilin era". Guilin will take the Lingqu Canal and the Pinglu Canal as the dual mainlines to showcase the oriental wisdom of canal civilization to the world.

The 2025 World Canals Conference was successfully held in Buffalo, New York from September 22 to 25 local time. During the conference, experts, city representatives and enthusiasts in the global canal field gathered together to have in-depth exchanges on key issues such as the protection of canal cultural heritage, ecological governance and sustainable development.

During the conference, the Guilin delegation showcased the profound heritage and unique charm of the Lingqu Canal, a thousand-year-old canal, to the world through various forms such as on-site exhibitions and technical reports, attracting the attention of many experts and canal enthusiasts attending the conference. At the closing ceremony, Guilin City played the city promotional video "Guilin, the Most Beautiful Place in the World" and the promotional video for the 2026 World Canals Conference "Ancient Wisdom of the Lingqu Canal and Modern Technology of the Pinglu Canal", extending a global invitation to "Guilin".

Guilin is renowned worldwide for its karst landforms and the "most beautiful in the world" scenery of the Lijing River. Its profound historical culture is closely related to its unique water system, and it also possesses the Lingqu Canal, a thousand-year-old canal treasure.

It is reported that Guilin won the hosting rights for the 2026 World Canals Conference on October 26, 2023. The 2026 conference will, for the first time, take the "ancient wisdom of the Lingqu Canal" and the "modern technology of the Pinglu Canal" as the dual mainlines, presenting the Chinese perspective and oriental wisdom of canals moving from history to the future, and showcasing the unique charm of the integration of Chinese canal culture and natural landscapes.

It is learned that the 2026 World Canals Conference is scheduled to be held from September 7th to 11th, 2026. Currently, Guilin City has fully launched the preparatory work, established a dedicated working team, and launched the conference's Chinese and English special website (https://www.wcc2026guilin.com). It is also actively promoting the optimization of core inspection routes such as the Lingqu Canal, Pinglu Canal, and Lijing River, and maintaining close collaboration with IWI.

 

In the next step, under the leadership of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's Party Committee and the government, Guilin City will join hands with the Autonomous Region's Department of Transportation and other relevant departments to advance the preparatory work for the conference with high standards and quality, ensuring the complete success of the 2026 World Canals Conference.