Sustainable port development: the role of Chinese seaports in the 21st century Maritime Silk Road

We evaluate the respective roles, functions and prospects of the 15 Chinese ports, intended to be the 'eastern end' of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). To achieve this, and thus contribute to the future development of BRI, we introduce the concept of sustainable development capability. We employ principal component analysis and analytic hierarchy process to build a model which evaluates the (cooperative) sustainability of the ports, based on four dimensions: capacity of port operations; (ambient) economic conditions; environmental factors; and human intellect and technology (HIT). Sensitivity and cluster analysis are used, to classify the ports into four categories (respective roles): international hub ports, regional hub ports, node ports, and regional gate ports. We hope that the port system we present and assess here will provide guidance to ports and countries, especially in Europe, leading to the right 'port alliances', that could turn BRI into an efficient global transportation system.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the roles and prospects of 15 Chinese ports in the Belt and Road Initiative, introducing the concept of sustainable development capability and building a model to evaluate port sustainability. The findings aim to provide guidance for ports and countries, especially in Europe, to form the right port alliances and create an efficient global transportation system.