A giant Chinese-chartered freighter is to nudge its way through the Panama Canal on Sunday to mark the completion of nearly a decade of expansion work forecast to boost global trade.

The vessel, especially renamed COSCO Shipping Panama, will inaugurate the widened canal in an hours-long voyage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean via a new shipping lane and gigantic locks that have been fitted to the century-old waterway.

"It is a historic day for the country," Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said on Saturday.