More foreign companies prefer to have marine disputes resolved in Chinese courts nowadays as the judiciary’s reputation grows with the increasing number of maritime cases in which it has provided equal protection to overseas litigants, China’s top court said. Disputes over marine freight, watercraft rentals, vessel collisions, ship construction and ocean pollution have multiplied, according to China’s Maritime Adjudication, a white book of marine trial records over the past 30 years in Chinese and English issued by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC). The figure shows an annual increase of about 10% a year, and China now handles the most marine disputes in the world as it becomes the main maritime cargo center in the Asia-Pacific region. So far, these tribunals have heard 64,747 marine cases involving overseas litigants from more than 70 countries and regions. By August, 8,258 marine rulings with English versions have been released on the internet, Wang Yanjun, Deputy Chief Judge of the Marine Tribunal under the SPC said. As of 2013, Chinese maritime courts had detained 7,744 ships, of which 1,660 were from foreign companies, the China Daily reported.

China will allow overseas investors and private Chinese companies to establish shipping enterprises, according to the “Guidelines on promoting a healthy development of the maritime industry”, a new 15-point policy. Zhang Shouguo, Vice Chairman of the China Shipowners’ Association, said that he had been expecting the release of the policy for years. Shipping businesses fully-owned and controlled by foreign investors can be set up in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ). The 10 shipping companies listed in China reported a total loss of nearly CNY1.5 billion for the first six months of this year, according to their financial reports. He Jianzhong, Vice Minister of Transport, said at a Beijing news conference that Chinese shipping companies’ technological capability was weaker than foreign competitors. Currently, more than 90% of China’s international trade is carried out by sea, but only 25% of China’s imports and exports are carried by domestic shipping companies. The Vice Minister said that there are more than 240 shipping companies in China and their fleets have a total cargo capacity of more than 100 million metric tons, accounting for 8% of the global cargo shipping industry. To boost the industry, the central government has decided to restructure the shipping sector by prioritizing its development as a national strategy, facilitating the expansion of selected enterprises and helping coastal cities build “international shipping hubs”. Favorable taxation and fiscal policies will play an important role in enhancing shipping enterprises’ capacity and making them greener and more competitive, the guidelines said, noting the government plans to create a modern shipping industry by 2020. Over the past year, the Ministry of Transport has abolished 26 administrative approval procedures that governed shipping operations, aiming to reduce government intervention, He said. Because of high tax burdens, from corporate tax to seafarers’ salary tax, and red tape in vessel registration and importation, most Chinese shipping companies sailing international routes have shunned the homeland, setting up operational bases in low-taxed jurisdictions and flying their vessels with foreign flags. The guidelines also encourage development of sea-rail intermodal and inland waterway transport.

The Xiamen Ocean Gate Container Terminal is to become the first fully-automated terminal in China. All loading and delivery work will be done by machines. A video of the terminal in action showed a passing container being picked up by an automated bridge crane and being placed on an automated container truck. Under GPS guidance, the truck moved to a designated freight yard before a gantry crane picked up the container again and placed it in a designated area. The automated version that will become operational in September can save 25% in energy and cut carbon emissions by 15%, said Wang Shenyuan, General Manager of the Technology Department for the new terminal. Construction of the terminal, which cost CNY658 million, started on October 27 last year, and when complete, its throughput is expected to reach 78,000 to 91,000 TEU per year. The Haicang bonded terminal area has become a hub for Southeast China’s international shipping industry. So far, the bonded terminal area has a freight throughput of 100 million tons and 10 million TEU of containers. There are 12 berths with a rating of 100,000 tons, which are under construction, and 10 berths with a handling capacity of 50,0000 tons, used by 54 international shipping lines.

China Cosco Holdings has signed a landmark deal with Brazilian miner Vale for the transport of iron ore and the purchase of 14 very large ore carriers, which have been barred from entering Chinese ports since early 2012. The two companies had agreed on a contract lasting up to 25 years for China Cosco to ship iron ore for Vale. To fulfill the contract, China Cosco will buy four Valemax vessels – giant ore carriers with a capacity of 400,000 DWT – and build 10 more. In 2009, Valemax vessels were ordered at USD120 million each, indicating China Cosco’s purchase could cost more than USD1 billion. As China had banned Valemaxes from docking at its ports, since 2012 two-thirds of the Valemax fleet have gone through Subic Bay, in the Philippines, for transshipment, discharging cargo to smaller capsize vessels, which have a capacity of 180,000 DWT, for the final journey to China. If the ban is indeed lifted, it could actually be positive for the shipping market, according to James Leake, Managing Director at London-based Arrow Research. About 11 Chinese ports are capable of receiving Valemax vessels.

China Shipping Development, the country’s largest tanker operator by fleet size, is acquiring a 20% stake in Shanghai Beihai Shipping for HKD1 billion from parent China Shipping (Group) in a bid to capitalize on the growth of hauling petroleum along China’s coast and inland waterways. The latest purchase raises China Shipping Development’s shareholding in Shanghai Beihai to 40%. In June, it bought a 20% stake in Beihai from Sinochem International Corp. Other Beihai shareholders include CNOOC Petrochemical Import & Export, with 30%, Silverbond Overseas with 20% and China Ocean Oilfields Services (Hong Kong), another CNOOC subsidiary, with 10%. China Shipping Development, which also has one of the world’s largest dry-bulk fleets, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that the transaction would “further entrench its position in the coastal and domestic crude oil shipping market” in China and enhance its relationship with CNOOC, the firm’s major customer. Beihai, which owns a fleet of eight tankers, was forecast to generate HKD455 million and HKD472 million in net profit for 2014 and 2015, respectively. China Shipping Development will be compensated by an indemnity clause with its parent should Beihai’s profits fall short of the projection. China Shipping Development recorded CNY39 million in net profit for the first half of this year, reversing huge losses from a year ago.