The 2024 Xinhua Baltic International Shipping Center Development Index Report was released in Shanghai on August 21. Singapore, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai continue to lead in comprehensive strength among global shipping center cities in 2024. Athens-Piraeus and Ningbo-Zhoushan both advance, and Tianjin returns to the top 20.
The index results show that the top 20 global shipping center cities in terms of comprehensive strength in 2024 are Singapore, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, Rotterdam, Athens-Piraeus, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Hamburg, New York-New Jersey, Houston, Tokyo, Guangzhou, Busan, Qingdao, Antwerp-Bruges, Shenzhen, Oslo, Tianjin and Melbourne.
In recent years, Singapore, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai and Rotterdam have always maintained their position as the world’s top six shipping centers. These cities have provided strong guarantees for the smooth operation of global shipping with their outstanding shipping service capabilities and industry-leading port infrastructure. After several years of ups and downs, Tianjin successfully ranked 19th and returned to the top 20 in the world, highlighting its position in the value chain of the international shipping industry.
Shanghai once again ranked third in the International Shipping Center Development Index, and its position as an international shipping center continued to consolidate. In 2023, the container throughput of Shanghai Port reached 49.16 million TEUs, ranking first in the world for 14 consecutive years; Shanghai also achieved green methanol ship-to-ship bunkering, the futures of the container shipping index (European line) were listed and traded, and the first domestically-made large cruise ship “Aida Magic City” was delivered and put into operation.
Shanghai Vice Mayor Zhang Xiaohong said that the Shanghai International Shipping Center is moving from “basic completion” to “full completion”. Shanghai will promote the high-quality development of shipping services and build an international shipping center that is convenient, efficient, fully functional, open and integrated, green and smart, and has strong guarantees.
In 2014, Xinhua News Agency China Economic Information Service and the Baltic Exchange jointly launched the Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Center Development Index to the world for the first time. It mainly characterizes the internal laws of the development of international shipping center cities from three dimensions: port conditions, shipping services and comprehensive environment, and comprehensively measures and truly reflects the comprehensive strength of international shipping center port cities in a certain period of time. Since its first release, the influence of the index has been increasing day by day, and it has become an important indicator for evaluating the development status of major shipping centers.