Chinese overseas ports: Market potential, supply capacity and access to imports

Abstract

Especially since 2012 Chinese companies have acquired stakes as investors and constructors of overseas ports in both high-income and emerging economies. These initiatives play an important role in the construction of a Maritime Silk Road and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Although a result of many factors, of which Chinese port investments are only one, macro-geographical gravity methods show that distance impedance and increases in the export market potential, export supply capacity and access to imports of these countries drove increases in income per capita. Export supply capacity rose particularly in Southeast Asia and more recently in Sub-Saharan Africa. In difficult times for the world economy, countries in which China invested in overseas port infrastructure saw increases in national export market potential and income per capita, due to reduction in the impedance of distance, while in the case of developing economies export market supply capacity and access to imported capital equipment and intermediate goods improved.