According to the “Xinhua-Baltic development index of international shipping centers” that was released in Shanghai on the morning of June 10, Singapore, Hong Kong and London are the top three shipping centers in the world, while Shanghai has climbed up by one spot to fourth. Clearly Asian shipping centers are the key to international trade.

The report shows that in 2018, the ten global shipping centers with the most comprehensive competitiveness are Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Dubai, Rotterdam, Hamburg, New York, Tokyo and Busan. The six Asian hubs manifest the continent’s rising prominence.

Shanghai rose to the fourth spot thanks to its rapidly growing modern collection and dispatch system, shipping service system and regional cooperation effect. According to the recently published “three-year plan of constructing Shanghai’s international shipping center (2018-2020)”, by 2020, Shanghai will become an international shipping center with highly concentrated shipping resources, comprehensive shipping services, favorable shipping markets, modernized and efficient logistics, and the capability to distribute the world’s shipping resources.

At the publication ceremony, the blue book for the construction of Shanghai’s shipping center in 2018 was also released in order to summarize the progress made last year in aspects of pivotal port construction, the soft environment of shipping, shipping services and brand effect boosting. The sustainably growing Shanghai international shipping center is actively exploring the prospects of a free trade port, a trial of a fully automated port, the high-end service industry chain of shipping, and the linkage with the Belt and Road initiative as well as the Yangtze River economy zone.

In 2014, the economic information center of Xinhua Press cooperated with the Baltic Exchange to launch the “Xinhua-Baltic development index of international shipping centers” for the first time. Included are three primary and 18 secondary criteria. The index evaluates the comprehensive competitiveness of an international shipping center based on factors such as port conditions, shipping services and overall environment, thus fully assessing and truthfully reflecting the standards of a shipping center in a given period of time. It has become an important indicator of the development of major shipping centers.