Opening up the Chinese shipping market 1988–2018: The perspective of Chinese shipping companies facing foreign competition

Chinese shipping industry has experienced a rapid growth in the past three decades. With the analysis of the Chinese fleet capacity and the evolution of its market share in Chinese freight market, this paper reveals that foreign shipping companies took a majority share of ocean shipping while Chinese state-owned shipping companies have the upper hand in coastal and river shipping markets. Chinese private shipping companies were squeezed to either be a subcontractor or be confined in a niche market. This paper collects data from Chinese official shipping report and Chinese academic publications. It reveals that the prosperity of China's shipping market has not enabled the emergence of strong and very competitive Chinese shipping companies when facing foreign competitors.