Country for PR: China
Contributor: Xinhua News Agency
Friday, August 19 2022 - 11:00
AsiaNet
Index Accelerates Digitalization of Port Commodity Trade and Helps Realize Interconnection between Industrial Chain and Supply Chain
QINGDAO, China, Aug. 18, 2022 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

At the 2022 Qingdao Land-Sea Linkage Seminar held on August 15, 2022, the 
International Shipping Hub Development Index -- RCEP Regional Report (2022), 
the Xinhua-SPG Port Commodity Index Report (2022), and the RCEP Seaborne Trade 
Index Report 2022 were released. Experts believed that the high-standard 
interconnection infrastructure for the industrial chain and supply chain could 
be provided by accurately depicting the changes in port commodity trade as well 
as achieving the efficient linkage among port shipping, commodities, and trade. 

The International Shipping Hub Development Index(ISHDI) -- RCEP Regional Report 
(2022) compiled by China Economic Information Service was another world-class 
port and shipping evaluation index launched globally, with a focus on the 
competitiveness elements of shipping hubs based on the Xinhua -- Baltic 
International Shipping Center Development Index. It aims to facilitate smooth 
cooperation and coordinated development of hub ports.

ISHDI incorporates 17 secondary indicators dividing into 5 primary dimensions, 
which are infrastructure capability, operation service, network connectivity, 
smart & green level of ports and economic vitality of the hinterland. To study 
the development of the ports & hubs in the RCEP region, ISHDI project team 
chose 29 major shipping hubs in the members of the RCEP by scale and 
representativeness. As per calculation, 29 sample ports are divided into four 
classes, Class A-D. As the leading force, Shanghai Port and Singapore Port are 
Class A shipping hubs playing crucial role in the world shipping industry, 
Shanghai and Singapore are also the world leading shipping centers. 
Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, Qingdao Port, Shenzhen Port, and Busan Port were rated as 
Class B. These ports not only have significant advantages in infrastructure 
capability, network connectivity, but also have their own characteristics such 
as good service, leading innovation, etc. 

Xinhua-SPG Port Commodity Index was jointly developed and compiled by Shandong 
Port Group and China Economic Information Service. It was first released in 
Qingdao in October 2021. And the index system included the Crude Oil Price 
Index, Iron Ore Inventory and Entry & Exit Index, Coke Inventory and Entry & 
Exit Index, Steel Billet Price Index, and Hot Rolled Coils Price Index. The 
Iron Ore Price Index and Coke Price Index were newly released this time, 
forming a comprehensive monitoring system covering the iron ore and coke 
commodity prices, inventories, and entry & exit states in ports of Shandong 
Port Group. According to the planning, the categories involved in the later 
index system will be further enriched, and the coverage will also be extended 
to other ports along the coast, gathering more information on advantageous 
cargo types of the ports. 

The RCEP Seaborne Trade Index Report 2022 took the 14 member countries except 
for Laos of the RCEP as the research objects and selected six major categories 
of cargo, including container cargo, iron ore, coal, petroleum products, LNG, 
and automobiles, which accounted for about two-thirds of the RCEP seaborne 
trade volume, as the analysis objects to reflect the annual development trend 
of the RCEP seaborne trade from the two dimensions -- overall trade volume and 
seaborne trade volume. The RCEP Seaborne Trade Index was 101.1 in 2021, which 
had exceeded the highest level before the COVID-19 pandemic (2019). The report 
also pointed out that it would have a positive effect on the seaborne trade of 
goods in the region in the future, driving the RCEP Seaborne Trade Index to 
further go up, with the liberalization and facilitation of RCEP trade in goods 
as well as the continuous deepening of the rules for accumulation in the region 
of origin. 

Sea transportation has been the main mode of transportation for global trade, 
and the ports are its hubs and bridges. Huang Youfang, Council Chairman of the 
8th China Institute of Navigation and Vice Chairman of China Federation of 
Logistics & Purchasing, believed that as the digital information link, the 
release of the three upgraded indexes would enhance the status of ports as 
international shipping hubs, guide the hub ports to achieve smooth cooperation, 
and help global ports and shipping optimize resource allocation and achieve 
sustainable development.

Source: China Economic Information Service