[photopress:Yangshan_1.jpg,full,alignright]When shipping firms recently published data on major ports around the world a week ago, the growth figures for Chinese ports drew attention as they were far better than those of Korea’s Busan port. Though Busan, Korea’s largest gateway, managed to remain the world’s fifth-largest shipping port last year, the pace of its growth was far below those of its Chinese competitors.
Busan handled 11.84 million 20-foot-equivalent containers last year, up 3 percent from a year earlier. In contrast, Shanghai, the world’s No. 3 port, has expanded its cargo operations nearly 25 percent to 18 million.
Experts believe that the growth gap will continue in the coming years as China’s sizzling exports keep Chinese harbors busier than ever before.
Hur Yun-su, a research fellow with the Busan Development Institute, told The Korea Herald, ‘China’s rapid economic growth will widen the gap. As they have opened up several new ports, they will move up faster than us. China is a dinosaur and Korea is a puppy in terms of scale.’
Seven Chinese ports are listed on the global top 20, and their double-digit growth rates suggest that they will move further up the ladder in the years to come.
Shanghai’s new Yangshan Deep Water Port, which sits on an island 32 kilometers out at the sea and opened in December 2005 is a good example of China’s efforts of ensuring that its economic growth will not stall due to transportation bottlenecks.
Some experts say the new port could even help Shanghai eventually overtake the world’s second largest port, Hong Kong, which will pose challenges to Asia’s other transshipment hubs such as Busan and Singapore.
Source: Korea Herald