London landing on 4th place as Europe’s first shipping centre
A new ranking of the world seaports and shipping centres has set the standard listing on its head as it weighs more than cargo volume, reports the Shanghai Daily. Shanghai now ranks the fourth among international shipping centres, following Singapore, Hong Kong and London, according to the latest Xinhua-Baltic Exchange International Shipping Centre Development Index.
The old standard ArcBest listing had the following ranking – Shanghai, Singapore, Shenzhen, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Hong Kong, Busan, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Dubai and Tianjin. In the new ranking, Singapore takes top spot with three outstanding factors – port facilities, maritime services and overall environment. Dubai, Rotterdam and Hamburg are also in the top 10.
43 international port cities were evaluated according to new standards.
Shipping development in Shanghai and Dubai, two important cities in emerging economies, has increased greatly thanks to their rapidly developing modern maritime collection and distribution system, continuous rising shipping service ability, the driving power of free trade zones, and improved business environment, the index noted.
A total of 43 international port cities were evaluated. Shipping centres in Asia are full of vitality in development, and their competitiveness is continuously growing, said Cao Zhanzhong, a chief economics analyst at the China Economic Information Service.
Shanghai is globally the busiest port but London and Singapore add other values to the industry.
Shanghai remains the world’s busiest container port, with a guaranteed capacity of 100 million people and 5.2 million tons, and 110 air carriers had flights to Shanghai, with the airline network covering 297 cities around the world, the city government said last year. The city is creating a sea and air hub featuring highly concentrated shipping resources, complete shipping service functions, a good shipping market environment and efficient logistics, according to a three-year plan on the city’s international shipping centre construction by 2020.
London and Singapore lead in shipping services, said Mr Cao. London is strong in shipping finance and law, while Singapore has advantages in shipping broker and ship management, he said. China’s coastal cities had an overall good performance, with Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Qingdao and Dalian ranking 13, 16, 17 and 20, respectively.
The index was launched by China Economic Information Service, a subsidiary of Xinhua news agency, China Financial Information Centre and the Baltic Exchange.
Copyright 2016 HKSG Group Media Ltd.
