A systematic summary for canal route selection principles is conducted refer to the route selection practice of Xiong’an New Area and Shanxi Province’s sea corridor. The construction conditions such as river and reservoir conditions，topography and geology，water resources and short-term and long-term construction schemes are discussed，and the methods of qualitative analysis and quantitative comparison are adopted，it can be concluded that current status of the river and reservoir，transportation volume，ecology，obstructions shall be taken into consideration when selecting the canal route. It is feasible for Xiong’an New Area to connect to the sea with Duliujianhe River，and Shanxi Province to connect to the sea with multimodal way. Preliminary schemes are provided for Xiong’an New Area and Shanxi Province to connect to the sea，which can be references for canal route selection projects and waterway design codes updating.