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China seeks high-tech upper hand in industry carrying 80% of global trade
China is testing and exporting automated terminals, driverless trucks and port software as officials say the systems can cut costs and speed trade.
- Ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on Nov 18-19, Beijing is showcasing its vision for future trade: a high-tech port network featuring driverless trucks, remote-controlled cranes, and AI-powered systems.
- Beijing has provided $4.8 billion in financing for port equipment since 2000, according to AidData, a research lab at William & Mary university. The country now operates 60 automated terminals, aiming to improve efficiency in an industry moving more than 80 per cent of global trade.
- While hardware like Westwell driverless trucks now operates in Britain, software expansion has proven harder. Following the quiet collapse of LOGINK last month, China Merchants Port is installing homegrown terminal operating systems to replace foreign software at international ports.
- Western officials fear this technology export grants Beijing strategic leverage. Isaac Kardon, an expert on China's maritime strategy with the Institute for Defense Analyses, warned "it's a very uncomfortable dependence" with risks ranging from economic coercion to exploiting back doors to spy on trade networks.
- Wolfgang Lehmacher, a consultant and former head of supply chain industries at the World Economic Forum, says these investments create a "Chinese orbit of control." Beijing's transport ministry maintains completing this digital transformation is critical to gaining the upper hand in global shipping competition.
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China seeks high-tech upper hand in industry carrying 80% of global trade
When world leaders fly into the Chinese city of Shenzhen next week, they may catch a glimpse of China's vision for the future of global trade: a high-tech port humming with next-generation hardware and software.
·London, United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources4
Leaning Left0Leaning Right2Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Right
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Right
67% Right
C 33%
R 67%
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