Lingshui, China

Lingshui, China: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Lingshui is a coastal location in China and serves as a submarine cable landing point on the country's southern seaboard. Two submarine cables are scheduled to land here, both currently in draft status and expected to enter service in the mid-2020s. These systems connect China to a cluster of Southeast Asian nations, positioning Lingshui as a node in the regional maritime connectivity corridor linking East and Southeast Asia.

The two cables landing at Lingshui — the Asia Link Cable (ALC) and SEA-H2X — collectively reach countries including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, they establish Lingshui as a terminus for intra-regional connectivity across the South China Sea and surrounding waters, rather than a gateway for intercontinental long-haul routes.

Cables Landing at Lingshui, China

The Asia Link Cable (ALC) is a 7,200 km system with a draft ready-for-service (RFS) date of 2027. In addition to Lingshui, it connects landing points in Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. The cable forms a multi-country link threading through the maritime geography of Southeast Asia, with China represented at Lingshui as one of its endpoints.

The SEA-H2X is a 6,000 km system with a draft RFS date of 2026. Its other landing countries are Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, alongside an additional Chinese landing point. Like the ALC, SEA-H2X is oriented toward intra-regional connectivity within Southeast Asia, with Lingshui providing a Chinese terminus on the network.

Regional Context

Within China's submarine cable infrastructure — which spans 24 landing points hosting a total of 24 cables — Lingshui falls in the upper portion of the distribution by cable count, ranking in the top 79% of Chinese landing points with its two systems. More established hubs such as Chung Hom Kok and Tseung Kwan O each host six cables, while Chongming and Nanhui each host four, and Shantou hosts three. Lingshui shares its two-cable count with Lantau Island, reflecting its status as an emerging rather than a mature landing point.

Network Role

Lingshui functions as a dual-cable landing point serving the South China Sea regional corridor. Both systems terminating here — the ALC and SEA-H2X — are oriented toward Southeast Asian destinations, connecting China to the economies of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. When both cables enter service in 2026 and 2027 respectively, Lingshui will provide two independent cable paths into this regional network, offering a degree of route diversity at this southern Chinese landing location.

As a landing point hosting two draft-status cables, Lingshui represents an addition to China's already distributed cable geography rather than a concentration of existing capacity. Its position in the broader regional submarine cable graph reflects the continued expansion of South China Sea cable routes as demand for connectivity between China and Southeast Asia grows across the mid-2020s.