It would not be a secret to talk that China occupies the most important role in global maritime trade, but let’s go to the most interesting current data on the subject. By September 2023, Beijing had signed 70 bilateral and regional shipping agreements with more than 60 countries and regions. Currently, China’s shipping routes and service networks cover major countries and regions around the world. Among the most heavily invested countries are Singapore, South Korea, the United States and Spain. But if we take the point of comparison of projects that are underway, Egypt and Saudi Arabia top the list with investments that could reach billions of dollars.

The high presence of China in ports worldwide has generated certain concerns or has come to question the purpose of investments in large ports, as it can be considered a threat to some governments to think that they can be used for naval bases. This information remains subjective since no real conflicts have been generated so far.

In general, there are more than 90 active port projects in which China has a large participation, and about 9 of them have been cancelled for various reasons such as environmental concerns, financial and/or security problems.