In 1961 China established a state-run maritime shipping company and subsequently signed shipping agreements with many countries, laying the foundation for developing the country’s ocean transport. That organisation developed into the present-day China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO). The Chinese government also invested heavily in water transport infrastructure, constructing new ports and rebuilding and enlarging older facilities.
A major effort has also been made to increase mechanization and containerization at major international ports.
China’s shipping industry and container transportation have reached international standards both in handling efficiency and building networks.
The governmental responsibility of the shipping industry is under the Ministry of Transport.
The number of container units handled by Chinese ports in 2011 reached more than 150 million. The country also manufactures 90% of the world’s containers.
The throughput of cargo and containers at China’s ports has been the largest in the world for the past five years, with an annual growth rate of 35%.
The first overseas container reached China in September 1973 at Tianjin Port, which later set up the country’s first container berth in 1980.
The 1990s saw rapid growth in the container transportation industry, and in 2002 China overtook the United States to become the world’s top handler of containers.
In 2006, the country handled 5.6 billion tons of cargo and 93 million TEUs (20-foot container equivalent units). Twelve ports recorded cargo throughput of more than 100 million tons, with the Port of Shanghai handling 530 million tons, making it the world’s busiest port.
Water transportation accounts for more than 90 percent of foreign trade cargo delivery, including 95 percent of imported crude oil and 99 percent of imported iron ore.
Containers have further connected China’s middle and western regions to the global market, under a ports distribution strategy combining coastal areas and inner rivers.
Maritime trade
Supply chain reconfiguration trends have been unfolding around the world for the past decade – and the latest statistics show that China and several other Asian countries are seeing the most visible changes in maritime trade patterns as a result.
Volumes moved on intraregional routes took a 27.6% share of global trade in 2022, and much of this was due to dynamic intra-Asian container shipping activity and the manufacturing supply chain specific to East Asian countries.
Intra-Asia routes serving intraregional supply chain recorded the highest growth rates from 2021 to 2022 – reflecting global manufacturing patterns, where China serves as the global manufacturing centre, supported by neighbouring East Asian countries supplying parts and components.
A strategy adopted by some companies for diversifying supply sources and reducing overdependence on China is the “China Plus One” strategy, where companies expand outside China while still maintaining a presence there. For example, Apple, Samsung, Sony and Adidas have moved some manufacturing activities from China to South-East Asia due to labour costs and risk management considerations.
The share of United States container imports from Viet Nam increased from 4% in 2017 to 8% in 2022, while India’s share moved up from 3% to 5%. China’s share dropped from 40% in 2017 to 31% in 2022.
Global growth projections are at 3.2% for 2023 and 2.9% for 2024. Asia, particularly India, South Asia and Central Asia are projected to record the highest growth.
In 2022, the transpacific route – trade between East Asia (mostly China) and the United States – continued to dominate global containerized trade flows but overall volumes on this route fell by 6.5%, from 30 million 20-foot-equivalent unit (TEU) in 2021 to 28 million TEUs in 2022. Volumes on the Asia-Europe route fell by 4.9%.
Dry bulk shipments declined in 2022 due to disrupted Ukraine exports, high energy prices and trends in the Chinese economy, including the sharp decline in the Chinese real estate sector. Demand for major dry bulks improved in 2023, driven by subsequent economic recovery in China.
In 2023, following policy reforms aimed at securing coal supply to cope with El Nino impacts, coal imports to China increased significantly, particularly from the Russian Federation.
Shipping fleet
At the start of 2023, 18 of the 35 major ship-owning companies were in Asia.
China is the second-largest ship-owning country after Greece, followed by Japan (third), Singapore (fourth), Hong Kong, China (fifth), the Republic of Korea (sixth) and Taiwan Province of China (eighth).
When measured by value, ship owners in China have an 11.04% share of the world fleet, second to Greece with 11.8%. Japanese ship owners hold a 10.73% share.
Hong Kong, China is the world’s fourth-largest flag state of registration in terms of dead weight tonnage, with 200.07 million dead weight tons in its fleet – an 8.8% share of the world fleet. This represented a 3.7% fall in dead weight tons between 2022 and 2023.
In terms of vessel numbers, Hong Kong, China has a 2.4% share of the world fleet with a total 2,537 vessels flying its flag. Measured by value, vessels flying the Hong Kong, China flag represent a 6.27% share in the world fleet, putting the flag in sixth place by value of vessels.
Singapore takes fifth place in the leading flags of registration, followed by China in sixth place and Japan in tenth place. Other flags in the top 35 include Indonesia (12), the Republic of Korea (18), India (19), Viet Nam (22), Malaysia (25) and Taiwan Province of China (33).
The Chinese flag registered the second-fastest growth (5.4%) in 2022.
The three leading shipbuilding countries – China, the Republic of Korea and Japan –accounted for 93% of newbuilding tonnage delivered in 2022, with China taking a 47% share.
In 2022, ships flying the Hong Kong, China flag were the fourth-largest group of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters from shipping globally.
Vessels controlled by owners in China, Japan and Greece account for the largest share of CO2 emissions.
