Chapter 11 8. Ports and Shipping in Asia

For centuries, Asia has been a vast center of maritime trade.And China, once a maritime power, has more than 1,400 ports and 35,000 berths, 1,200 of which are used to berth ships with a load capacity of 10,000 tons. China's four major ports rank among the world's top ten container transport ports: Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen rank second, third and fourth in the world respectively. The Chinese port of Qingdao Port ranks tenth in the world. In 2007, Shanghai's cargo throughput reached 560 million tons, ranking first in the world for three consecutive years.It currently has 42 container terminals and routes to more than 300 ports in the world!Take France, for example. With its three coastlines, it can become one of Europe's main gateways for goods carried by liners.In contrast, most of Europe's shipping is intra-European trade, with only a quarter coming from intercontinental trade, especially with Asia.

The port of Shanghai is as famous as the port of Hong Kong.Shanghai's logistics capabilities continue to expand.Asia concentrates most of the maritime logistics.China is the world's largest port country. In 2005, Shanghai became the world's largest port, surpassing the famous traditional sea ports Singapore and Rotterdam!Soon, Shanghai will become the leading container port in the world.In the ranking table below, seven of the top ten ports listed are already in Asia! World Container Port Ranking Throughput of port countries and regions Singapore Singapore 27.9 Shanghai ↑ China ↑ 26.1

Hong Kong China 23.8 Shenzhen China 21.1 Busan South Korea 13.3 Rotterdam Netherlands 10.8 Dubai Middle East 10.6 Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China 10.2 Hamburg Germany 9.9 Qingdao China 9.5 In the first seven months of 2010, China's ship orders increased by 420%!Total orders to Chinese manufacturers have skyrocketed. According to statistics, in July 2010, China's manufacturers produced a total of 35.2 million tons of ships (TPL) in the first quarter alone.Compared with the same period of the previous year, it has increased by 87.4%! China's maritime companies have also joined the development of China's global maritime industry.China Ocean Shipping (Group) Corporation has subsidiaries in ports such as Dalian, Lianyungang and Yangshan Terminal in Shanghai.Others, such as China Merchants Bank and its branches, are mostly located near the port.

COSCO Group is China's first shipping and shipping company, specializing in maritime transportation and ship manufacturing.It has several agreements with some Greek shipbuilders to create a joint venture specializing in cargo transportation and vessel leasing. In 2008, COSCO Group invested 2.5 billion euros to obtain the container concession management right of Piraeus Port near Athens.The aim is to develop the port and make it more modern.The capacity of the port has doubled as the remediation program unfolded.Likewise, Beijing Construction Engineering International (BCEGI) is partnering with Greece's Helios Plaza to build a central hotel near the port of Piraeus.

The port of Piraeus, an important Mediterranean port, has attracted investment from Beijing, which in this way has been aided by Greece.China has just signed sixteen contracts with Greek companies in the maritime sector.In addition, China Shipping (Group) Corporation, one of the two major maritime companies, opened a branch in the French port of Le Havre in 2010.