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    Port governance in China: a review of policies in an eraof internationalizing port management practices

    James J. Wanga,*, Adolf Koi-Yu Ngb, Daniel Oliviera

    aDepartment of Geography, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    bTransport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Wellington Square, Oxford 0X1 2JD, UK

    Received 31 January 2003; revised 21 November 2003; accepted 21 November 2003

    Available online 20 January 2004

    Abstract

    Chinas global ambitions are well reflected through the recent rise of its container ports and their ability to redirect global shipping

    networks. Meanwhile, seaports provide a rich field of analysis for furthering our understanding of legal, institutional and operational

    questions of industrial reform. This is particularly true after a decade of substantial foreign direct investment inflows on the part of terminal-

    operating multinationals seeking to establish a presence in Chinas striving port industry. Massive terminal-level corporate participation has

    induced a rescaling effect in governance configurations. This paper adopts a governance approach to address recent institutional changes in

    the countrys port industry in relation to an ongoing internationalization of port management. Particular attention is given to the role of port

    authorities and specific corporatization practices under reform by contrasting the examples of its two largest ports: Shanghai and Shenzhen. It

    concludes that Chinas ports stakeholder communities, logistical capabilities as well as scalar politics are best explained through institutional

    factors.

    q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Keywords: Governance; Port; China; Reforms

    1. Introduction

    Globalization demands new interfaces allowing smooth

    interaction among economic and geographical units. If

    seaports have always played a critical functional role in

    global and regional trade systems, their institutional position

    in relation to performance imperatives set by the global

    economy still commands substantial research given portsworldwide have decisively entered an unprecedented reform

    period (Cass, 1998; Drewry, 1998, 2002; Peters, 2001). New

    institutional requirements emphasize three key aspects.

    First, they need to provide more standardized services to

    accommodate multinationals outsourcing activities.

    Reforming economies as China must render their transport

    networks and infrastructural capabilities intelligible to the

    outside world. Second, the emergence of terminal operating

    multinational corporations (MNCs), in conjunction with

    private participation reforms in the 1990s, is bringing

    structural change to which container ports worldwide seek

    to adapt. Third, facing capacity issues, seaports have sought

    to reposition themselves in global logistics and vertical

    supply chains as value adders rather than value subtractors

    (Juhel, 2001).

    Meanwhile, governance approaches have gained creden-

    tials in approaching port systems of developing economies

    as well as their ungoing port reforms (Baltazar and Brooks,

    2001; Wang and Slack, 2002; Wang and Olivier, 2003).China is not only the worlds first container traffic generator

    but the staggering growth at its ports in the past decade is

    likely to hold tremendous potential in the light of the fact

    that only an estimated 20% of its national cargo is

    containerized, compared to a 45 50% global average

    (DKB, 1999). Their empirical importance may not be

    overstated in (1) their capacity to redirect global container

    shipping networks and (2) their strategic status in the pursuit

    of Chinas global ambitions. In spite of this, Chinas ports

    remain largely under-researched to this day. This paper

    seeks to redress this gap and to shed light on the recent

    developments in Chinas port system by placing immediate

    emphasis on institutional factors related to various reform

    questions. Although valuable, we feel the current literature

    0967-070X/$ - see front matter q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    doi:10.1016/j.tranpol.2003.11.003

    Transport Policy 11 (2004) 237250www.elsevier.com/locate/tranpol

    * Corresponding author. Tel.: 852-2859-2111; fax: 852-2858-2549.

    E-mail address:[email protected] (J.J. Wang).

    http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tranpolhttp://www.elsevier.com/locate/tranpol
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    on port reforms remains overly theoretical while lacking to

    address the institutional embededness and idiosyncrasies of

    particular national reform schemes and their outcomes. A

    brief historical and topical profile of Chinas port reforms

    shall follow a critical overview of proposed port governance

    models. The paper shall then analyse Chinas port reforms

    based on empirical evidence from Shenzhen and Shanghai

    in particular. Implications for further research shall close the

    arguments.

    2. Port governance: some notional issues

    Governance approaches to port systems may be justified

    in several ways. First, stakeholder communities have

    expanded and complexified tremendously out of reformschemes from the traditional state monopolies (Notteboom

    and Winkelmans, 2002). Second, governance approaches

    seek to emphasize the informal character of institutional

    arrangements, an essential element in the understanding of

    Chinas institutional culture in the port industry (Wang and

    Olivier, 2003). Third, governance approaches are theoreti-

    cally formulated in such a way to avoid the pitfalls of

    universal reform discourses through stronger qualitative

    understanding of the institutional embededness of industrial

    change.

    In many instances, the literature falls short of capturing

    the idiosyncrasies of national reforms, let alone individualports, especially on the outcome side. Much of it remains

    broad-brush universalistic efforts to theorize undergoing

    reforms in developed and developing countries alike (Baird,

    1999;World Bank, 1999;Cullinane and Song, 2001, 2002).

    In recent years, World Bank (2001) has proven an

    authoritative source of literature through publication of its

    Port Reform Toolkit. Drawing on Michael Porters famous

    diamond model, the package is intended at promoting

    liberal reforms through various forms of development

    strategies. More recently, a group of European economists

    have also drawn on Porters framework to address change

    and competition in the European port sector (Huybrechts

    et al., 2002). Through a survey conducted among port users,they have found that the roles of local, regional, even

    national governments remain a significant factor affecting

    port attractiveness, although the term governance is not

    explicitly used. While valuable, such studies are perhaps

    overly economistic in the sense that they neglect the

    fundamental questions of cultural and institutional embed-

    edness as well as issues of so-called path dependency

    relating to reform efforts, the latter being of particular

    relevance in the study of developing and/or reforming

    economies (Stark, 1990). Path dependency commands a

    more in-depth understanding of particular institutional

    cultures, while avoiding a rather universalist tabula rasa

    approach to reform capabilities. Moreover, a persistingmajority of theoretical output seeking to capture economic

    development and reform of Asian economies remains to this

    day overly Western-biased (Yeung and Lin, 2003).

    Governance approaches acknowledge this to varying

    degrees.Baltazar and Brooks (2001)have early recognized

    the adaptability of governance frameworks to port systems

    in Asian developing economies. Since reforms involve

    increasing corporatization of ports, the authors have later

    suggested a corporate governance approach to stakeholder

    structures of ports:

    the system by which business corporations are directed

    and controlled. The corporate governance structure

    specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities

    among the different participants in the corporation, such

    as the board, managers, shareholders, and stakeholders,

    and spells out the rules and procedures for makingdecisions on corporate affairs. (OECD, quoted inBrooks

    and Baltazar, 2002: n.a.)

    This approach is further shared by Sternberg who sees

    governance as: ways of ensuring that corporate actions,

    assets and agents are directed at achieving corporate

    objectives established by the corporations shareholders

    (Sternberg, 1998 quoted inBrooks and Baltazar, 2002:n.a.).

    This type of approach tends to define the port as a

    corporation, and the strategies to achieve corporate

    objectives, the stakeholder community structure, and a

    triangular framework of environment strategy structure

    become the core that forms the content of corporate portgovernance.

    Two efforts to broaden this approach have come from

    Notteboom and Winkelmans (2002) and Wang and Slack

    (2002). The former group of authors introduce the term

    stakeholder relation management to broaden the scope of

    participants and objectives of the port community. The

    authors rightly emphasize the procedural aspects of

    attaining consensus in macro as well as micro-objectives.

    While holding true, unfortunately such approaches have

    tended to underplay the importance of local business and

    political cultures. In approaching the case of Shanghai,

    Wang and Slack (2002) have pledged for a broader

    governance concept drawing from the social sciences thatwould allow for greater weight of social and cultural

    variables. Governance is seen by Stoker (1998) and othersocial scientists as to recognize both market and government

    failures and ever-increasing influence and power of non-

    government bodies and their role in steering future

    development. It emphasizes the networked interdependence

    of different actors and sectors in a given society. From

    Stokers (1998) five propositions, governance may be

    better regarded as (1) a set of institutions and actors that are

    drawn from but also beyond government, (2) the blurring of

    boundaries and responsibilities for tackling social and

    economic issues, (3) power dependence involved in the

    relationships between institutions involved in collectiveaction, (4) autonomous self-governing networks of actors

    J.J. Wang et al. / Transport Policy 11 (2004) 237250238

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    and (5) the capacity to get things done which does not

    necessarily rest on the power of governments to command

    or use their authority. A point to stress is the issue of power

    and how it may be expressed both formally and informally

    in steering reform, development, and even supply chains, an

    issue the Porter framework only weakly addresses (Cox,

    2001). AsWang and Slack (2002)have formulated it, power

    relations are played out both internally and externally to the

    port as an operational and political unit. Institutional

    specificity is highlighted by greater considering of local

    legal frameworks (or lack of it), for instance.

    The major limitation of the model lies in its implicit

    assumption that the port is the favoured platform where all

    actions of governance take place. The emergence of port

    operating MNCs as well as the fact that the overwhelming

    majority of private entry is taking place at the terminal level

    has questioned the adequacy of treating the port as

    the preferred analytical unit. Indeed, the devolution of

    commercial activities of ports at the terminal level suggests

    the port is no longer the only and/or most important entity inapproaching the ports logistical capabilities (Heaver,

    1995). Thus, massive terminal-level private entry having

    occurred in the 1990s requires a rescaling of governance

    configurations in understanding power distribution among

    scalar lines. Accordingly, we propose an adapted framework

    (Fig. 1). In the diagram, two axes complement the scalar

    axis. The first one considers this rescaling effect and seeks to

    express power distribution along themes ofspatial-jurisdic-

    tional scales. The second one relates to the stakeholder

    community. This may include issues of ownership, the

    various participants and relevant business networks, but also

    questions of cultural interfaces when expanding the

    community towards foreign participation. We shall illus-

    trate how this becomes relevant in the case of China. The

    third (also horizontal) axis refers to logistical capabilities.

    In the past, ports supplied very basic services (i.e. loading/

    unloading) but increasingly are diversifying their functional

    basis into value-added logistics (VAL). While the range of

    VAL still varies considerably among ports worldwide, our

    argument is that the capacity of ports to provide such

    services remains highly contingent on institutional arrange-ments (e.g. state-provided free trade zones and logistics

    Fig. 1. A three-dimensional model of port governance.

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    parks). Finally, it is important to underline the spectral

    nature of the axes for two main reasons. First, to emphasize

    the global, and even regional, diversity of individual ports,

    which may be positioned along the spectrums accordingly to

    form varying governance sub-models. Second, since

    logistics is blurring traditional division between supply

    and demand of port services,1 a spectrum is methodologi-

    cally better suited to capture such subtleties than conven-

    tional di/trichotomistic classifications. We shall now

    substantiate the conceptual framework based on empirical

    evidence from China using two sub-variants: Shenzhen and

    Shanghai. But before, the reader may consider useful a

    propaedeutic overview of Chinas port reforms in under-

    standing where Chinese port reforms come from and where

    they are headed.

    3. The container port industry and its reforms

    in China: some background

    Institutional reforms may be warranted at a global level

    as far as their rationale are concerned, but inevitably the

    processes, dynamics and particularistic features involved

    are best approached at more local levels. Further, reform

    processes and their unfolding must be ascribed to particular

    socio-cultural, historical and institutional environments.

    Chinas port sector provides such a singular environment,

    which hardly lends itself to overly universalistic approaches

    (Wang and Olivier, 2003). As the largest developingcountry with the fastest growing container port industry in

    the world today, China surely fits as a case for detailed

    investigation. In this section, we seek to articulate precisely

    how its Open-Door Policy has exerted pressure to reform its

    port industry by investigating the details of institutional and

    legal reforms through five key topics. This section provides

    a background for a further examination of individual port

    governance systems at local levels.

    Since the Open-Door Policy in 1979, China has enjoyed

    two decades of rapid economic development and social

    change. FDI and foreign loans have since poured into the

    country following spectacular rates. Since 2002, China hassurpassed the US as the worlds first recipient of FDI (in

    nominal values). Its staggering growth in manufacturing

    output translated into double digit growth rates in its key

    coastal ports, especially those belonging to the Pearl River

    Delta (PRD), the Yangtze River Delta and, increasingly, the

    Bohai Rim. Updating its coastal infrastructure and addres-

    sing capacity issues at its major ports has accordingly been

    one of Chinas development priorities on the governments

    agenda. Since physical upgrades stem from institutional

    processes and reforms, the lag between capacity upgrades

    and the countrys economic growth has resulted in severe

    bottlenecks among strategic distribution nodes. As a result,

    Chinas container services are still operating significantly

    below world standards (World Bank, 1996). Generally

    speaking, several major problems can be identified:

    1. Inadequate physical infrastructure, including a weak

    multimodal inland network.

    2. Inadequate deep-water ports by international standards.

    3. Heavy bureaucratic redundancy.

    4. Weak and ambiguous legal framework, including

    customs thickness.

    5. Lack of a healthy competitive and innovative environ-

    ment in port and shipping industries.

    6. Strong political culture of localism (danwei) as resisting

    change.

    In light of such difficulties, just how the Chinese

    government may balance domestic interest with its firm

    ambition to become a global economic player remains an

    intriguing while ungoing phenomenon. The following

    topical discussion addresses the main features of Chinese

    port reforms, past and present.

    (1) Preferential Port Development Policies. Since the

    late 1970s, the Chinese government has proposed several

    policy packages in favour of port reforms. A first strategic

    document was the Interim Regulations of the State Council

    of the PRC on Preferential Treatment to Sino-Foreign Joint

    Ventures on Harbour and Wharf Construction promulgatedand implemented by the State Council in 1985. Recognizing

    that port development was necessary for socialist moderni-

    zation of China (Article 1) while understanding the fact that

    port projects were usually capital intensive, time consum-

    ing and low return rate (Article 2), joint ventures (JV) in

    port projects and operations were given preferential

    treatments in terms of both treatment period and financial

    arrangements. Consistent with these first steps towards

    reforms, the Eighth (19911995), Ninth (19962000) and

    Tenth Five-Year Plans (2001 2005) have placed port

    development among top priorities in the Chinese agenda

    of development.

    In 1984, the Central Government designated 14 coastal

    cities as open cities.2 Although initially the policy was not

    intended as a port development initiative, it indirectly

    affected ports in a positive way through soaring FDI and

    related international trade from these cities. In 1991, there

    were already more than 50 ports in the country (excluding

    Hong Kong and Taiwan) with container handling facilities.

    Towards the end of the decade, there were 235 ports

    established by the Chinese government, of which 184 (78%)

    were set up since 1980 (Bajpai and Shastri, 1999). The

    past two decades have therefore witnessed exceptional

    1

    For example, operational entry of ocean carriers into the port sectorthrough dedicated terminals and other means shipping lines now embody

    both supply and demand of port services. On this topic, seeOlivier (2003).

    2

    The 14 cities are Behai, Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Lianyunguan,Natong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wenzhou,

    Yantai and Zhangjiang.

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    growths not only in overall container throughput volumes

    nationwide but also in absolute number of facilities

    introduced. This sudden surge has also at times been

    criticized for a great deal of operational redundancy among

    neighbouring ports. Nevertheless, Shanghai and Shenzhen

    have come a long way to become the worlds third and

    fourth largest container ports in 2003, handling 11 and 10

    million TEU, respectively, surpassed only by Hong Kong

    (first) and Singapore (second).

    (2) Foreign participation. First foreign participation in

    Chinas ports appeared in the early 1990s when Hong

    Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) started

    operations under JV agreement in Shanghai and Zhuhai

    in 1993. Internal and external pressures justified openings

    to foreign participation. Internally, the public sector

    lacked sufficient funds to finance the construction andimprovement of capital-intensive port projects following

    a pace able to match requirements from its manufactur-

    ing outputs. The JV formula was perceived as achieving

    a critical trade-off between domestic interests and the

    need to introduce foreign capital, technology transfers,

    new labour skills and management know-how (Roehrig,

    1994). Externally, through foreign investments the

    government hoped to operationalize its global ambitions

    and access international markets as well as taking

    symbolic actions displaying a true volition for reform.

    As such, construction and operation of port facilities for

    public wharves was classified as one of the industries inwhich foreign investments were encouraged.3 By 2001,

    there were 25 container terminals being jointly owned,

    managed, or operated by foreign enterprises (Cheng,

    2002).

    The geographical distribution of foreign participation is

    given inFig. 2.It is interesting to note here, in relation to the

    socio-cultural embedeness of institutional reform, that a

    majority of entering foreign firms are of ethnic Chinese

    background. Indeed, firms as HPH and the Port of Singapore

    Authority (PSA Corp.) have outperformed their foreign

    rivals in entering the Chinese market. Large Hong Kong-

    based conglomerates as New World (Pacific Ports Co.) and

    Wharf Holdings (MTL) have also been favoured in equityparticipation throughout Chinas ports. Such cultural

    embededness of corporate entry strategies and reforms

    strongly points to the importance of understanding business

    networks in the study of Asian institutional reforms and

    development (Airriess, 2001; Hamilton, 1996; Yeung and

    Olds, 2000).

    (3) Reforms in public enterprises management. A

    significant break exists in policy formulation between the

    1980s and 1990s. During the 1980s, emphasis lies on

    physical construction (hardware), while only subsequently

    during the 1990s could efforts be channelled in reforming

    managerial and institutional aspects (software).

    Understanding reforms on the software side

    requires understanding of concurring changes in Chinas

    state-owned enterprises (SOE) and legal framework.

    Regarding SOEs, policies sought to separate adminis-

    tration from operation. During Chinas two decades of

    economic reform, this colossal undertaking necessitated

    four gradual waves of reforms (i.e. 1982, 1988, 1993 and

    1998), while still actively pursued to this day. In order to

    alter the ruling ideology from multifacet government to

    government with limitations (Xia, 2001), clearer allo-

    cation of responsibilities between government and

    enterprises were established. Responsibilities of the

    government towards SOEs include (1) tax levies (2)

    regulation of SOEs financial and operational activities(3) appointment of officials. Meanwhile, responsibilities

    and/or benefits of enterprises include (1) managerial

    sustainability of the enterprise in terms of profit-making

    ability and tax payments and (2) assuring the stability or

    growth of public asset values while defending ownership

    rights.

    Since 1992, foreign firms were given the right to

    participate in port operations under Sino-foreign equity

    JVs. Many of the coastal ports like Shanghai, Shenzhen and

    Dalian are currently running under such arrangements, with

    operation rights leased to a designated entering firm,

    including ocean carriers and terminal operators. In balan-

    cing domestic with foreign interests, a number of portauthorities have incorporated part of their activities or

    created entirely separate local companies to be involved in

    the ports equity shareholding. Typical examples include

    Shanghai Port Group Holdings Ltd (Shanghai), Yantian Port

    Holdings (Shenzhen) and Chiwan Port Holdings (Shenz-

    hen), all public corporations created out of reform

    necessities.

    (4) Decentralization of power. Before 1980, the port

    industry typically fell under highly centralized control. The

    Ministry of Communications (MOC) organized nearly all

    activities in ports while port authorities and departments in

    local governments were only subordinates. Gradually, the

    Central government recognized the disadvantages of suchbureaucratic distance separating decision-making from

    operational units (Ta Kung Pao, 2002): (1) inconsistency

    between port and city development, (2) little or no

    consideration of local authorities in port development, (3)

    poor knowledge level of bureaucrats in relation to port

    operations.

    Major decentralization efforts began in 1984 when the

    central management system was gradually adjusted to better

    incorporate local managerial systems. The 1980s dual

    leadership mainly led by the MOC had gradually shifted to

    a dual leadership mainly led by local authorities by the late

    1990s. Change in port status accompanied power devolution

    along the scalar axis, resulting in a number of nationalports becoming provincial ports. The MOCs dominating

    3

    See Catalogue for the Guidance of Industries for Foreign Investment,Section One, Part IV, Article 6 (approved by the State Council, PRC at 29th

    Dec 1997).

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    influence in port affairs became, in theory at least,

    streamlined as today it is only one of several stakeholders

    in local port governance. Meanwhile, this implied that local

    municipal governments were expected to act as both

    landlord and regulator, thereby enhancing local govern-

    ments intervention in port affairs. Port authorities were

    either created or transferred to municipal authorities as well

    as endowed with financial autonomy in the routine

    administration and operation of ports.

    (5) Legal system. Chinas legal framework in maritime

    affairs dates back to 1949. However, due to problems

    mainly of political nature, the legal structure of the

    maritime sector was not laid down until the early 1990swhen the Maritime Code was adopted. This historical

    contingency perhaps may have revealed advantageous

    since by the time the Central Government formulated its

    legal policies, major reforms had taken place within

    the port industry. Two points deserve particular attention

    in the Maritime Code. First, land (except rail) as well as

    maritime spaces were conferred to a single authority, the

    MOC, who is responsible for policy formulation in

    maritime strategy. Concerning ports, the granting of

    berthing rights to foreign ships falls under the Ministrys

    powers, while it is also responsible for comprehensive

    national port planning and national policy formulation.

    Second, the Maritime Code has levied the ban on foreign

    companies engaging in construction and operation ofChinese ports. Consistent with prior reforms, the Maritime

    Fig. 2. Major foreign participation projects in Chinas container ports.

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    Code further clarified the terms of entry along the

    principles that (1) non-domestic companies could only

    enter if in JV with domestic companies, (2) the principal

    operational base of the JV is located within China and

    (3) registered capital inputs by domestic investors is no

    less than 50%.

    Minor amendments were introduced since the Maritime

    Code. The most significant legal progress is the first Port

    Law of Peoples Republic of China, passed in June 2003 by

    the National Congress and to become effective in 2004.

    However, as this law is not yet implemented at the time of

    writing, the detailed analysis of reforms to follow can not

    fully capture its outcome.

    4. Port governance and scalar politics in China: fromthe national to the local

    The above introduction to the port reforms in China

    indicates that in general, the entire port sector has followed a

    national trend towards the gradual insertion of market

    principles in selected industries. However, port-level

    idiosyncrasies reveal great degrees of complexity and little

    anticipated uniformity in implementation processes,

    particularly on the software side. Differentials occur out of

    individual ports and their associative regions facing varying

    sets of difficulties and problems, against which local

    resources and capabilities may be assessed. The areas of

    difficulties may be classified into five categories.

    (1)Variable ownership structures and their implications.

    Table 1 lists major JV projects in container terminal

    operations among selected ports. The data indicates that the

    JVs do not share the same ownership structure. In the largest

    ports where governance has reached a high level of

    complexity, shareholding structures may vary following

    development phases within a given port (e.g. Yantian,

    Shanghai, Ningbo), as shall be elaborated later.

    While the JV formula appears a priori advantageous for

    all parties involved, areas of tension remain amongstakeholders. Three such areas are worth emphasizing.

    First, given the nationalistic nature of the Chinese govern-

    ment and the strategic importance of ports, the central

    government was unwilling to see any domination of

    individual port operators in China. For this reason, the

    MOC modified its policy in 1994 by setting the maximum

    shareholding by non-domestic firms to 49% or less of

    Table 1

    Shareholding structures among selected ports and terminals as of June 2002

    Region Port Container terminal Shareholding structure

    Pearl River Delta (PRD) Guangzhou Guangzhou Container Terminal (GCT) PSA 49%, Guangzhou Harbour Bureau 51%

    Shenzhen Yantian International Container Terminals (YICT) HPH 58%, Maersk 10%, Yantian Port Holdings 27%,

    COSCO Pacific 5%

    Shekou Container Terminals (SCTCN) P&O Ports 25%, Swire 25%, China Merchants 32.5%,

    COSCO Pacific 17.5%

    Chiwan Container Terminals (CCT) MTL China Merchants 25%, Kerry Logistics 25%,

    Chiwan Port Holdings 50%

    Taiwan Strait Fuzhou Fuzhou Container Terminals (FCT) PSA Corporation 49%, Fuzhou Port Authority 51%

    Fuzhou Aofeng Container Service Co. Ltd (FACS) PSA Corporation 49%, Fuzhou Port Authority 51%

    Shantou Shantou International Container Terminals (SICT) HDP 70%, Shantou Port Authority 30%

    Xiamen Xiamen International Container Terminals (XICT) HDP 49%, Xiamen Haicang Ports Co. 51%

    Xiamen Xianyu Quay Co. Ltd (XXQ) Pacific Ports 92%, Xiamen Xianyu Group Corporation

    8%

    Xiamen Xianyu Free Trade Zone Quay Co. Ltd (FTZQ) Pacific Ports 60%, Xiamen Xianyu Group Corporation40%

    Xiamen Xianyu Free Port Development Co. Ltd (FPDQ) Xiamen Xianyu Group Corporation 100%

    Yangtze River

    (Chiangjiang) Delta (YRD)

    Ningbo Ningbo Beilun Container Terminals Phase I (NBCT I) Ningbo Port Authority 100%

    Ningbo Beilun Container Terminals Phase II (NBCT II) HPH 49%, Ningbo Port Authority 51%

    Shanghai Shanghai Container Terminals (SCT) HPH 37%, Shanghai Port Container Co. Ltd 63%

    Shanghai Wai Gao Qiao Phase I (WGQ) HPH 40%, Shanghai Port Authority 30%, COSCO

    Pacific 20%, Shanghai Shiye 10%

    Northern China Dalian Dalian Container Terminals (DCT) PSA Maersk 49%, Port of Dalian Authority 51%

    Qingdao Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminals (QQCT) P&O Ports 49%, Qingdao Port Authority 51%

    Tianjin Tianjin Sinor Terminals (TST) Conaust (P&O Ports subsidiary) 22.5%, Gearbulk

    Shipping 22.5%, Port of Tianjin Authority 55%

    CSX Orient (Tianjin) Container Terminals (CSXOT) Pacific Ports 24.5%, CSX World Terminals 24.5%,

    Port of Tianjin Authority 51%

    Source. Translated fromCheng (2002).

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    project capital. Such concerns mostly stemmed from Hong

    Kongs HPH aggressive entry into some eight Mainland

    ports within a relatively short period, some as majority

    shareholder.4 This policy later was to be reverted back to its

    initial formulation in 2003 and abolish ceilings on foreign

    ownership at the terminal level (though regulatory ceilings

    applying to HPH were informally upheld, cf. Chadha,

    2001).

    The second friction area relates to the different objectives

    set by the private investors/operators and the state-owned

    firms, following principles set by local port authorities. As

    mentioned earlier, profit-oriented international operators

    were initially welcomed on the basis of their financial

    resources and operational efficiency contributions. How-

    ever, accommodating these goals has proven difficult as

    public bodies have allocational equity objectives to accountfor on behalf of the local shippers community and the health

    of the local economy as a whole. As such, it has proven

    difficult to align such goals even among corporate

    subsidiaries of public bodies, since most were created

    simply out of pragmatic necessities. Here, the hindrance is

    more a matter of political and managerial culture. Although

    not exclusive to Chinese ports, routine decisions as price

    fixing/adjustments thus become deeply embedded in what

    appears as deep-rooted political localism (danwei) from

    which interests collide. In that sense, by allowing various

    port users to hold increasing shares the government seeks to

    alleviate non-domestic users concerns over potential biases

    in regulatory processes, while protecting domestic partners

    stakes outside the port itself (i.e. local shippers).

    A third concern is the choice of JV partnership. Rapid

    growth among key coastal ports has exerted accompanying

    pressures on delineating a partner selection process. Past

    and anticipated growth potential at Chinese ports make

    them also attractive to foreign investments and various

    container shipping firms having stakes in the global port

    industry. The Shanghai Port Administration Bureau (SPAB)

    is among the few public bodies nationwide to have formal

    (albeit strategically ambiguous) guidelines for partner

    selection. Its stated guiding principles are: (1) the financial

    situation of the firm, (2) its performance record as terminaloperator, (3) its ability to attract more shipping lines and to

    set up more routes, and (4) its relationship with Shanghai.5

    Some ambiguity may be noted. The first, second and third

    principles may imply that large port-operating MNCs may

    be advantaged over smaller local ones who lack global

    networking capabilities and bargaining power. The third

    principle may imply advantage of large shipping lines over

    pure terminal operators in their capacity to establish global

    routes and connections. The record shows however that

    a majority of entrants in Chinas ports are of the second

    kind, so-called carrier dedicated terminals remain the

    exception among Chinas container ports (Table 1). Perhaps

    the most ambiguous principle is the fourth one: what may be

    defined as a good relationship with the city is really up to

    the Bureaus own judgment. As is traditionally the case in

    China, policies tend to be formulated in such a strategically

    ambiguous way as to provide leverage and flexibility to

    acting authorities.

    Such ambiguity in policy formulation brought us to

    verify selection guidelines against actual development of

    container terminals at Shanghai port, revealing a four-stage

    process: (1) stage one: setting up of Shanghai Container

    Terminals as a 50 50 JV between Shanghai Port Authority

    and foreign partner HPH, a pure terminal operator; (2) stage

    two: new terminal built at Waigaoqiao special economiczone with a 40% stake held by Shanghai Port Group

    Holdings Ltd (SPGH), 30% by HPH, 20% by COSCO (a

    Hong-Kong-listed Chinese state-owned shipping line) and

    10% by Shanghai Enterprise (a subsidiary of the Shanghai

    Municipal Government also listed on the Hong Kong stock

    market); (3) stage three: phases two and three of

    Waigaoqiao facilities involving creation and entry of a

    third terminal operator, Shanghai Pudong International

    Container Terminal Ltd a second purposely established

    SOE, 100% held by SPAB and partly managed by foreign

    AP Moller Group; and (4) stage four (upcoming) memor-andum of agreement involving an unknown stake going to

    Maersk in Waigaoqiao. This pattern in Shanghai reveals (1)a complexifying terminal ownership structure and stake-

    holder community under a single port administration, and

    (2) despite a continuing presence of the Port Authority at

    every stage of terminal developments, partnerships have

    reformed in several waves that reveal an interesting pattern:

    a gradual shift from a pure terminal operator dominated

    structure to gradual entry of major shipping lines as the port

    geographically migrates from river towards deep-water

    coastal sites and as local authorities familiarize themselves

    with the global business environment.

    However, restrictions exist as to the applicability of

    the Shanghai sub-model to other Chinese ports, despite

    great similarities found at Qingdao, Tianjin, Dalian andGuangzhou, where such ports display similar past

    institutional trajectories. In contrast, Shenzhen, PRCs

    second largest container port, is of a quite different

    development path and ownership structure than Shanghai.

    Both Shanghai and Shenzhen, however, share common

    features of geographical complexity in that the single

    port may be divided into three distinct sub-port terminal

    areas (i.e. Shenzhen: Yantian, Shekou, Chiwan; Shang-

    hai: Huangpu, Waigaoqiao and Yangshan). A first

    distinction lies at the shareholding structure level

    where, unlike in Shanghai, a foreign operator holds a

    majority stake: while Chiwan and Shekou are apparently

    50 50 JVs between domestic and non-domestic opera-tors, the major shareholder in Yantian (Phase I) was

    4 The famous case is Shantou where HPH had a 70% controlling stake,

    the home town of Hutchison Whampoas (HPHs parent firm) chairman.5

    Through our field interview dated October 22nd 2003 with ShanghaiPort Administration Bureau. The guidelines are made semi-explicit on their

    promotional brochure.

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    Hutchison Delta Ports (a subsidiary of HPH, held 73% in

    1994), which later sold 10% of its shares to Maersk but

    still holds a dominant 48% controlling position. Second,

    the role of local port authorities may also be contrasted.

    The port authority of Shenzhen is neither directly

    involved in ownership nor operations. The local JV

    partners are purposely established Shenzhen-listed SOEs

    with major shares held by the municipal government.

    Ports displaying similar structures include Xiamen,

    Zhuhai and Shantou. Fig. 3 diagrammatically illustrates

    the different structures of Shanghai and Shenzhen ports.

    (2)Defining the port authoritys status. The definition of

    port authorities roles in China remains a somewhat grey

    area. Theoretically at least, and as stated in the new Port

    Law, the idea of separating the port administration from port

    operation in redefining the role of the port authority hasbeen long discussed and accepted. In practice, however, the

    implementation of such a separation remains difficult, as our

    discussion of the Shanghai model has sought to underline.

    The first and foremost obstacle lies in how to achieve

    financial sustainability of state-owned operations. As earlier

    alluded, in achieving separation, it is a common practice

    among Chinese ports to establish a Port Group Co. Ltd

    registered and listed as the independent entity to replace the

    operating role previously carried out by the port authority

    itself or its subsidiary firm (of which it controlled majority

    shares), and at the same time set up a new port

    administration bureau to carry out regulatory responsibil-

    ities on behalf of the municipal government.

    As indicated inTable 2,Shenzhen is one of only two port

    where its port authority is not an equity shareholder within

    the JV structure. In fact, it appears the role of port

    authorities of container ports located in special economic

    zones may be more limited: Shenzhen, Xiamen and

    Shantou, represent ports where port authorities hold 0%equity presence in the port JVs. The reason for this is still

    unclear and does not follow a clear logic. All the port

    authorities in older port-cities such as Dalian, Qingdao,

    Fig. 3. Comparative port governance sub-models for Shanghai and Shenzhen following institutional reforms 19902002.

    J.J. Wang et al. / Transport Policy 11 (2004) 237250 245

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    Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin tend to retain large stakes

    in their respective port JVs (Table 2). Our interviews with

    various stakeholders at Shanghai port suggest a fundamental

    reason for the slower pace of the role separation process

    relates to their large number of employees working under

    port authorities. Shanghai, for example, had more than

    50,000 staff under its port authority, who are now working

    for the new SPGH, following the abolition of the Shanghai

    Port Authority into the SPAB and the SPGH in early 2003.

    Consequently, such labour recycling practices may hinder

    the new corporate entitys competitiveness as changes in

    mentality are most likely to lag behind mere structural

    change. Another reason relates to how lucrative services

    carried out by traditional port authorities may be. Some of

    their activities fall into a grey zone between commercial and

    non-commercial categories. A case in point being pilotage,

    perceived as a very lucrative activity in Shanghai and thus

    the SPAB is reluctant to give it up. Activities carried out at

    the port level thus still display arguably less conformity with

    market principles than those at the terminal level. Also, the

    SPAB still retains a so-called berth-allocation right, where

    berth allocation of ships to individual terminals for the

    whole port remains centrally controlled under its powers.

    This is a considerably powerful, yet controversial, tool since

    it carries potential sources of operational biases. Existenceof a central rational allocation system is justified in terms of

    efficiency and productivity optimization of the entire port.

    Under such an arrangement, the shipping lines must have a

    pan-terminal agreement with the SPAB, rather than with

    discrete terminal operators, despite varying terminal

    charges among operators.

    (3) Entry barriers to foreign logistics operators. Ocean

    carrier-operated terminals and berths have become a

    standard practice among the worlds leading ports (Olivier,

    2003). Mega-carriers have vertically integrated transport

    terminals in an effort to create global logistics networks as

    well as a strategy to erect barriers to entry (Musso et al.,

    2001; Notteboom, 2002). However, in China this has yet tobecome standard practice. Foreign entry records in the port

    industry of the past decade show two sources of bias. First,

    the Chinese authorities have preferred to contract with pure

    terminal-operating MNCs over shipping lines. Shipping

    lines still hold minor positions in terms of equity JV

    participation (Table 4), state-owned COSCO being the

    forerunner. Policy-related rationale behind this was given

    earlier. As documented byWang (2002),although Maersk

    and other major intermodal service providers have had

    branch offices in many Chinese cities for some time and

    started to collect their cargo inland, this sector of the

    logistics industry has been considerably slower to open up to

    foreign operators than the port industry. The inland

    transport of containerized trade remains a relatively weaklyregulated market with a handful of powerful SOEs

    dominating individual sub-markets (Jiang and Prater,

    2002), such as SinoTrans controlling the freight forwarding

    market while a very large number of small firms compete

    with each other for the rest of the pie. Progress at marine

    terminals may be hindered by poor developments in the rest

    of the inland logistics chain. In light of this, defining a clear

    strategic role for the port authority becomes the more crucial

    since they must understand and respond to corporate

    strategies of vertical expansion of networks into China,

    which may start at the port itself.

    A second source of bias in entry data relates to country of

    origin of FDI in the port industry. Structural features of

    inbound FDI in the port industry displays an atypical profile

    compared to that of the country as a whole ( Table 3). This

    relates back to choice of partnerships in light of geopolitical

    considerations over its ports resources. In contrast to the rest

    of China where US FDI ranked second in 2001, the port

    industry has received as yet no substantial capital input from

    American firms.6 Meanwhile, foreign ethnic Chinese

    terminal-operating MNCs have decisively outperformed

    their foreign rivals in entering the China market (Tables 1

    and 4). This has resulted in a stakeholder community at the

    main ports aligned along linguistic and cultural lines. On

    Table 2

    Port authorities and shareholding structures at Chinas major ports

    Container terminal Category Container terminal Category

    Shenzhen (YICT) U Xiamen (XICT) U

    Shenzhen (SCT Shekou) U Xiamen (Xianyu Quay) U

    Shenzhen (CCT) U Xiamen (Xianyu FTZ Quay) U

    Guangzhou (GCT) UUU Xiamen (Xianyu FPD) U

    Fuzhou (FQCT) UUUU Ningbo (NBCT Phase I) UUUUU

    Fuzhou (FACS) UUUU Ningbo (NBCT Phase II) UUUU

    Shantou (SICT) UU Dalian (DCT) UUUU

    Shanghai (SCT) UUU Qingdao (QQCT) UUUU

    Shanghai (Wai Gao Qiao) UUUU Tianjin (TST) UUUU

    Tianjin (CSXOT) UUUU

    Keys.UUUUU: port authority owns 100% share of port JV;UUUU: port authority owns majority shares of port JV;UUU: port authority owns 50%

    shares of port JV; UU: port authority owns minority shares of port JV; U: port authority has no share of port JV. Source. Compiled from authors own

    estimates.

    6 The exception is CSX World Terminals, a subsidiary of American

    railway CSX but also co-owned by Pacific Ports, a Hong Kong firm.

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    linking socio-cultural ties with market entry competencies,the role of personal ties (guanxi) may not be overstated

    (Kao, 1993; Davies et al., 1995). The port industry is no

    exception as the connection of the chairman of HPHs

    parent firm, Hutchison Whampoa, to the Beijing govern-

    ment are now well known (Polin, 2000).

    (4)Diversification of financing channels. This leads us to

    the more specific issue of fund raising mechanisms available

    to the government for port projects. Since port construction

    and management are capital intensive in nature, success and

    sustainability of the project first lies in sound financial

    abilities. In China, there are six major ways to raise funds

    for port projects. They include:

    1. Central government investments

    2. Port construction fees

    3. Domestic investments

    4. Foreign Investments5. International capital (e.g. international stock markets)

    6. Foreign aids (e.g. fund agencies, NGOs)

    The financing channels for selected key ports are

    summarized inTable 4.

    Table 4clearly shows a retreat on the part of the Central

    Government from port financing, while foreign aid capital

    was limited both in terms of number of projects and nominal

    values. As a consequence, the main financing channels for

    major Chinese coastal ports are threefold: (1) port

    construction fees, (2) non-governmental domestic invest-

    ments and (3) foreign investments. The port industry has

    thus represented considerable opportunities for both foreign

    and domestic capital inflows, albeit in a selective manner

    applying to FDI as mentioned previously. Indeed, a net

    majority of foreign entrant firms remain Hong Kong or

    Singapore-based. P&O Ports (Australia/UK) and Maersk

    Table 3

    Chinas inbound FDI by Country of Origin, 2001

    1 Nominal value ($US million) Rank YOY growth vs. 1999 (%) Rank Share of total (%) Rank

    Hong Kong 167.17 1 7.9 5 35.7 1

    US 44.33 2 1.1 6 9.5 2

    Japan 43.48 3 49.1 1 9.3 3

    Taiwan 29.80 4 14.7 4 6.4 4

    Singapore 21.44 6 218.9 8 4.6 5

    South Korea 21.52 5 44.4 2 4.6 5

    Germany 12.13 7 16.5 3 2.6 6

    UK 10.52 8 29.6 7 2.2 7

    Total 468.78 Mean 13.15 75.1

    Source. Chinas economic indicators (zhongguo jingji tongji kuaibu) vol. 14, 2002.

    Table 4

    Financing channels of selected Chinese coastal ports as of July 2002

    Ports Central govt Port

    construction

    feesa

    Domestic companies Foreign investments International capital Foreign Aids

    Shenzhen No China Merchants, COSCO,Yantian Port Holdings,

    Chiwan Port Holdings

    HPH, PSA, P&O Ports,Swire, MTL, Kerry,

    Maersk

    CCT, SCT Shenzhen(Shenzen Stock

    Exchange Share B)

    Guangzhou U PSA

    Fuzhou U PSA

    Shantou U HDP

    Xiamen U Xiamen, Haicang,

    Xiamen Xianyu

    HDP, Pacific Ports ADB

    Shanghai U Shanghai Port Container,

    Shanghai Shiye,

    COSCO

    HPH SCT (Shanghai Stock

    Exchange Share A)

    Ningbo U HPH

    Dalian U PSA, Maersk

    Qingdao U P&O Ports

    Tianjin U Pacific Ports, CSX, Gearbulk, P&O Ports World Bank

    Source. compiled by authors from various sources.a According to Measures for the collection of Port Construction Fees, promulgated by the PRC State Council with effective date at 1st January 1986.

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    (Denmark) constitute the main exceptions but their presence

    for the time being remains limited.

    (5) Legal Aspect and Regulatory Environment. After

    more than six years of discussion and revision, Chinas first

    Port Law was passed through the National Peoples

    Congress in June 2003, to be effective January 1, 2004. In

    his recent address to the Congress, Chunxian Zhang,

    Minister of Communications, emphasized that the Law

    deliberately seeks to clarify three major areas of port

    development governance (Zhang, 2003):

    1. Port planning and construction. Two levels of port

    planning shall be in place: at the national level, the Port

    Allocation Plan, to be carried out by the MOC, shall

    determine the overall nationwide distribution of port

    development and set roles for each port. At the locallevel, the Port Master Plans, to be prepared by defined

    local authorities and subject to approval by the MOC,

    shall assess and determine the jurisdictional borders and

    natural conditions of each port, the assessment of current

    and future role of each port, and the scale and phasing of

    future developments.

    2. Port operation and management. The law sets the

    regulations for the entrants to the port operation market,

    and specifies the responsibilities of port operators. The

    ultimate goal is to set up a regulated market in the port

    sector.

    3. The responsibilities of port administration body. The

    existing port authorities are no longer to be responsiblefor administration. Port administration shall fall under

    the local governments who are to purposely set up new

    regulatory entities in the like of port administration

    bureaus (e.g. Shanghai). These new bureaus shall be in

    charge of regulating the market to ensure fair compe-

    tition among the operators, monitoring the implemen-

    tation of all port-related regulations and laws, and

    maintaining safety and security within ports.

    For such a comprehensive law seeking to oversee some

    1000 coastal and riverside ports in the country, it is

    understandably a macro tool which primarily lays out a

    general framework for expected port governance. One maychallenge the effectiveness of the new Law by saying that in

    the current social and legal environment, China still suffers

    problems in transiting to rule of law from rule by law

    (Zheng, 1999). However, while some may argue about the

    contents included in the Law, some may equally be

    concerned about what has been excluded. An area of

    fuzziness, which lies outside the maritime industry, pertains

    to appropriate and fair ways of defining the port market, or

    the very implementation process of market forces in

    general. Despite numerous waves of reforms, deeper

    objectives lie in a shift of managerial culture, beyond

    questions of simply re-forming institutional structures in

    overly complicated ways. The re-shaping process has beenmade clear throughout: port authorities simply shed their

    skin as corporate entities while still carrying previous ills. In

    turn, such corporate entities become well poised to enter

    equity JVs at the port or terminal level. At the port level, it is

    still unclear which kinds of services are regarded as public

    and where their revenues should go. As long as this area

    remains a grey market, the relationship between the new

    port administration bureaus and the ad hoc corporate port

    groups is likely to remain problematic, while fair play

    between independent terminal operators (or JVs) and port-

    level operators may be legitimately put into question.

    5. Conclusions: Chinas policies for a new port

    environment

    This paper has attempted to provide an adaptableframework of port governance in addressing port develop-

    ments proper to China. The governance approach has been

    justified on grounds of a necessity to insert social, historical

    and cultural components to institutional change in China. A

    brief historical account has been given to show the path

    dependency of reform trajectories unique to China: where

    reforms have come from may be necessary to understand

    where they are headed. Also, in-depth analysis of key ports

    stakeholder communities show a staged pattern of gradual

    sophistication, structured along linguistic and cultural lines

    since the most successful foreign entrants remain of ethnic

    Chinese origin. This, at least in part, seems to confirm the

    cultural and institutional embededness of developmentalchange and reforms, while hinting towards similar features

    of corporate entry opportunities in Chinas port industry.

    Such features of Chinas port stakeholder communities have

    here only been partially addressed and therefore suggest

    further research is necessary into cultural and relational

    issues in Asian business networks and national port

    industries.

    The suggested theoretical framework also introduced

    themes of scalar governance, in showing precisely how the

    status of coastal ports have changed following policy

    directions. Power may thus be distributed along three

    structural lines in understanding port development: bargain-

    ing power asymmetries exist within the (1) logistics chainwhere shipping lines have exerted tremendous pressures on

    port development through various consolidation schemes

    (e.g. strategic alliances). However, pure terminal operators

    still occupy a leading role within the (2) ports stakeholders

    communitiesas central authorities have been slower to allow

    entry of shipping lines in equity and operational partici-

    pation of its port industry in comparison to other countries.

    The leading role of Hong Kong in the globalization of this

    industry may not be dismissed in relation to its ties with

    Beijing. An implication of the above discussion is that due

    to Chinas lack of democratic principles, the stakeholder

    community remains fairly closed and narrow, at times little

    more than shareholders and regulatory bodies. In that sense,decisional powers remain relatively concentrated.

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    Finally, decision-making powers have also been succes-

    sively devolved along (3) jurisdictional scales through

    comprehensive reform packages since the Open Door

    Policies took effect in a general national-to-local decen-

    tralization trend.

    Empirical evidence from Chinas main ports was

    given in support of theoretical claims, identifying two

    sub-models of port governance. Both models mainly

    differ in how the port authoritys role may be defined,

    allowing for strategically ambiguous grey areas. The

    Shenzhen sub-model leans more towards a hands-off

    system, as the port authority has managed to better

    subtract itself from commercial operations and holds no

    equity presence. The Shanghai sub-model is widely

    found among older major ports while newly established

    ports may better be poised to implement a model closerto Shenzhen, where historical residuals and institutional

    problems from the planned economy (e.g. over-manning)

    do not exist. In general, the younger ports differ also

    from the old ports through their capacity to allocate

    brand new facilities to containerized cargo, where the

    greatest potential gains in VAL exist.

    This leads us to address the third residual theoretical

    element from the model which has remained implicit

    throughout: variations in functional capabilities of ports.

    Traditionally, ports competitive advantage was reduced to

    little more than locational advantages. But with increasinglevel of competition, ports have sought to increase their

    range of activities and service levels in order to satisfy portusers (Ha, 2003) in creating what is now referred to as

    product differentiation. This strategy has mainly relied on

    logistical capabilities of ports, which in turn, as goes our

    argument, in China still heavily relies on institutional

    resources. Wang and Olivier (2003) have shown how

    municipal governments have attempted in recent years to

    establish functional links between their ports and special

    Economic and Technological Development Zones or

    kaifaqu. Another example is the case of the PRD ports.

    Drawing on relevant examples provided throughout this

    paper, the port of Shenzhen has been able to promote port

    service differentiation between its western and eastern

    facilities through institutional arrangements describedabove. Indeed, while the Shekou and Chiwan facilities are

    still perceived by shippers as a low cost budget option,

    HPHs Yantian seeks to provide more value-added services.

    Governance at the port of Shenzen has more successfully

    rendered intraport competition closer to market principles

    than in Shanghai. This raises interesting questions for

    research and we believe it necessary to further explore the

    linkages between institutional arrangements and logistical

    capacities of ports, especially in such places as China and

    Taiwan where Free Trade Zones act as leveraging tools to

    lure FDI. It is hoped that this paper may lead further enquiry

    into such linkages.

    Such questions appear essential to address not only in theeyes of the Chinese authorities but also those of potential

    foreign investors. In this regard, our analysis of the two

    identified port governance sub-models imply that entrance

    within the older established ports, through terminal-level

    JV, may for the time being encounter thicker internal

    governance problems. This is due largely to ad hoc

    corporatization practices of the government which has

    proven a hindrance to fair market practices among its ports.

    International players are still not placed on a par with locally

    protected players. Perhaps this type of governance may

    open the door to opportunities arising in younger striving

    ports. As such, Shenzhens phenomenal success may also

    surely be explained in institutional terms.

    Acknowledgements

    The authors wish to thank Dr S.X. Zhao for kindly

    sharing data on Chinas FDI as well as two anonymous

    reviewers for their comments. This research was supported

    by Hui Oi Chow Fund (No. 21369500/1004/04500/420/01),

    the University of Hong Kong.

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