A new research is now online. You can purchase at a discount price the digital version of the study: Maritime and logistic presence of China in the Med & Gulf Area: from a transit sea to a strategic sea.
The paper highlights the role of China in maritime traffics and logistics of the Widened Med Countries. The Mediterranean Basin, in fact, is becoming increasingly strategic for the Asian giant, as evidently showed by the analysis of the investment plans of China in the Med Area. More in general, the Asian giant plans to establish a new “Silk Road”, both maritime and on rail, with the objective of promoting its role in global trade, of integrating more the Euro-Asian markets and of finding new openings for its productions.
With its ports, its carriers, and a policy focused on mergers among national shipbuilding operators, China has gradually strengthened its role in the global maritime system and has a strategic presence goal in the Mediterranean: according to the authors’ evaluations, the Basin went from being a transit sea for Chinese ships to a true and proper permanent logistics base, a strategy which has been pursued for a long time, culminating with the acquisition of a majority stake in the Port of Piraeus and with investments in the Haifa port in Israel, in some ports in Turkey and, last in chronological order, the participation in the joint venture that will manage the upcoming port of Vado Ligure in Italy.
A well-planned strategy, then, built to increase its presence in the main port gates of the Mediterranean, well-integrated into a global context characterised by two phenomena that could change the shipping world at its roots: the large alliances of shipbuilder groups and ship gigantism.
The trend of utilizing larger and larger containerships has started a port selection process, since only a portion of them is equipped to accommodate 19thousand TEU ships and over. Chinese shipbuilders are also following this trend, in fact, Cosco Shipping – the name of the new Chinese shipbuilder group born from the merger of the state-owned group Cosco and China Shipping, the first shipbuilder group in the world with a turnover of over 38 billion dollar – ordered 11 19thousand TEU containerships, which are going to be operative starting from 2018. With reference to the alliances policy, Cosco Shipping is part of the Ocean Alliance, along with two other Far East operators and the French Cma-Cgm, in a deal that is going to focus its attention especially on the Asia-Europe routes.
The Chinese project of a new maritime Silk Road between Europe and Asia seems to have got the attention, with reference to the area we’re examining, of the ports of Piraeus, Venice and Istanbul, with the addition of the Dutch port of Rotterdam, in North Europe, that it is also going to be majorly involved. As for the railway of the Silk Road, the route between Rotterdam and Chengdu (in central China) will be covered in 15 days, versus the 30 days via ship.
The chapter contains information on the increasing Chinese investments to achieve the project, investments that will also affect Med & Gulf Area Countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Iran and, to a lesser extent, Israel and United Arab Emirates.
The impact that this great project is going to have on the port system and the logistics of the Mediterranean and Italy is going to be massive: it is going to inevitably favour those Countries that are able to offer high port efficiency and cutting edge logistics; this represents an important challenge for Italy.
