The Role of Feeder Shipping in Chinese Container Port Development

The future development of China’s container ports has become a critical issue, due to the sector’s dependence on international trade and the excessive interport competition that exists both within China itself and with the ports of neighboring countries. This article investigates the potential for utilizing domestic feeder shipping services (i.e., coastal and river container shipping services that carry both international and domestic cargoes) as a new source of future long-term growth in China’s container port sector. The Gini coefficient is utilized as an indicator for assessing the evolution of throughput over time for the 12 major container ports involved in feeder shipping operations in China. By applying decomposition analysis to a time series of throughput data, the key contributions of feeder shipping services to port development are identified. In addition, structural and spatial concentration effects on corresponding market segment components are computed. Finally, research findings provide evidence that there are potential opportunities for container ports to benefit from burgeoning feeder services carrying domestic trade and engaging in coastal transshipment activities.